Series eight of Death in Paradise has gripped viewers since it returned in January, with the shock exit of Florence Cassell leaving fans questioning whether Ardal O'Hanlan’s character DI Jack Mooney will follow suit by leaving the show after two years.
Ardal’s character is in trouble following the shooting of his partner Florence, and he hinted that the series would take a "dark turn" during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Friday. "Poor old Florence, my sidekick, she was shot at the end of episode five and now she’s gone," he said.
© Photo: BBCSpeculation is mounting over Ardal O'Hanlan's future on Death in Paradise
While he hasn’t yet revealed whether he is leaving the show, Ardal recently said he suspected the BBC wants to replace him with a female character, following Officer Ruby Patterson taking the place of Danny John Jules’ character Dwayne Myers.
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Speaking about being replaced, Ardal previously explained: "We're all dispensable. Absolutely, when I heard that Danny was leaving, I thought, 'Hmm. How will that play? How will the audience take that?' Because he's a very popular character in the show, and he's been there since the start as well, so there's that. But we've seen time and time again that the show survives these cast changes."
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Ardal made his debut as the lead detective in Death in Paradise in 2017, replacing Kris Marshall’s popular character DI Humphrey Goodman. The Love Actually actor starred in the show for four series, but eventually quit when his son reached school-age, and the family needed to stay more grounded. Speaking to Radio Times, Kris said: “It's something my wife and I discussed three or four years ago. When I was first offered the job, my son was six months old and my wife wasn't working, so it was a very easy decision. We decided I would do Death in Paradise for a few years until it became impractical. It was always quite a finite thing."
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