Death in Paradise star speaks out on Joséphine Jobert's surprise exit
Death in Paradise fans were hit hard by the surprise departure of Florence Cassell, but they weren't the only ones.
Speaking to Digital Spy, Tobi Bakare – who plays JP Hooper on the hit BBC series – admitted that losing co-star Joséphine Jobert "did feel like a big chunk had been taken from [his] Death in Paradise experience".
"Me and Josie started in the same year – we started in season four," Bakare said. "Though she started a couple of episodes before me, we were still getting to know the whole thing [together]. We were still learning.
"We'd grown such a great relationship over the last five years on the show. This was on and off screen, as well. So it did feel like a big chunk had been taken from my Death in Paradise experience."
Bakare added, though, that Jobert "absolutely smashed it" in her farewell episodes, an uncharacteristically dark two-parter that saw Florence decide to leave Saint Marie following the murder of her fiancé Patrice (Leemore Marrett Jr) and a near-death experience of her own.
"That was so exciting," Bakare enthused. "It's a show that has a formula, but when the show breaks out of it, it has such an effect. I had so many people contacting me!
"Being part of those two episodes was phenomenal because all of a sudden, you're forced to evoke other emotions, things that you would never, ever see the characters take on in the normal formula, because the crimes that normally happen are not so close to us.
"I'd even say, 'Do some more, Death in Paradise. Do some more of that.' I think definitely we can push the boat out. And I think that this year proves it."
With a ninth series of Death in Paradise yet to be officially announced, Bakare was keeping schtum on how long he'd like to stick with the series himself. "There’s always an instinct. Whether there's an answer, that's another thing!"
But he added that there's still "lots of other eras yet to explore" with his character JP.
"We have opportunities to speak to the producers to see how we can work on those other sides, get those other sides of the character. Even within the formula, there's lots of scope to do different things."
Death in Paradise series is available to pre-order now on DVD from Amazon and is released next Monday, March 4.
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