"We were not allowed to do that."
Beginning in 2009, Marc Elliott made a mark in the BBC’s EastEnders as Syed Masood.
The son of an Anglo-Indian mother, Marc became a key part of one of the show’s most ground-breaking storylines.
Syed was introduced to the show as the eldest son of Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra) and Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia).
Perhaps the character’s most notable storyline was his struggle to reconcile his faith and sexuality.
Despite being engaged to Amira Shah (Preeya Kalidas), Syed falls in love with Christian Clarke (John Partridge).
When Syed came out to Zainab, she forced him to marry Amira, fearing reputational damage to the family.
However, Syed and Amira’s marriage ended in disaster when Syed could not keep up this pretence.
After over a year of struggle, Syed and Christian ultimately succeeded in winning the Masood family’s acceptance of their love.
While the storyline was filled with intimate scenes between the two men, actor John Partridge recently revealed a rule EastEnders had for filming the gay sex scenes between him and Marc.
John said: “Funny thing is, when Marc Elliott and I would do any scenes in the bedroom, only one of us was allowed to have our shirt off.
“Because we were a gay couple.
“Any other scenes in soaps or TV dramas, heterosexual couples are allowed to show as much skin as they like.
“But we were not allowed to do that – and that was recently.”
John also cheekily alluded to his physique in real life.
He continued: “Needless to say, I was the one who had his top off.
“That just goes to show that homophobia is alive and well.”
Marc Elliott opted to leave EastEnders in 2012. The Executive Producer at the time – Lorraine Newman – commented:
“When Marc announced he had decided to move on, we had a tough decision to make.
“After numerous conversations, which included John, it was decided that there is only one outcome for Syed and Christian.”
This resulted in John also departing the show.
However, while Marc is yet to reprise his role as Syed, John has returned multiple times since his initial exit.
The actor returned for brief stints from 2014 to 2016.
Meanwhile, EastEnders has currently seen Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) revive their feud.
Recent episodes saw Zoe shock Sharon by telling her that the father of her twins was none other than the latter’s deceased husband, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman).
While Zoe’s daughter sadly did not survive, she abandoned her son, but is now determined to find him.
Surprisingly, Sharon agreed to help Zoe locate her missing child.
However, is it all as it seems?
EastEnders continues on Monday, September 29, 2025, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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