Enders' Stacey: I can't believe I killed Archie!

EastEnders actress Lacey Turner has said she "couldn't believe" it when she found out her character Stacey Branning was Archie Mitchell's killer.

Speaking to the News Of The World the 21-year-old admitted that she hadn't even had the slightest hint that it could be Stacey, until she was told half an hour before the live episode began on Friday night.

"I honestly couldn't believe it. I had no idea and didn't for one minute think it would be Stacey," Turner said.

"Usually you are told when you get such a big storyline but this really must be the best-kept secret in EastEnders' history."

"I got a call to go and see Diederick Santer about 20 minutes before we went live," Turner added. "We all knew he was going to see Archie's killer but I didn't think for one second it would be me.

"To be honest it still hasn't sunk in and I can't believe I was the one who killed Archie Mitchell!"

However Turner revealed that she almost couldn't say her crucial line after suffering from a sore throat and losing her voice ahead of filming. She missed dress rehearsals earlier on Friday, then lost her voice again after the show.

"It's typical isn't it - just as the live is upon us I get ill and lose my voice but, to be honest, even though I felt terrible nothing was going to stop me doing it," Turner said.

Everyone has worked so hard on this episode and it is such a big part of TV history that I just knew I couldn't miss it. I just made sure I rested my voice throughout the day so I could save it for the filming."

Meanwhile, EastEnders producers have confirmed that Stacey will be staying the show, with the papers reporting that her husband Bradley Branning, who fell to his death on Friday, will take the blame for the crime.

"Lacey is with us for the foreseeable future," a show insider told the News Of The World.

"But don't forget she told her father-in-law Max that she killed Archie - so there are plenty of twists and turns to come."