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"The first casualty of new EastEnders executive producer Kathleen Hutchison has been confirmed as actress Jill Halfpenny. Halfpenny, better known as ex undercover cop Kate Mitchell, is said to be &amp;quot;devastated&amp;quot; by the news. As many as thirteen other cast members could also get the chop within the coming months. &amp;quot;Jill&amp;#039;s contract has come to an end but that is no reflection on her as an actress,&amp;quot; a BBC spokeswoman told The Mirror. &amp;quot;Producers just felt there was nowhere left for the character to go. She won&amp;#039;t be killed off and the door will be left open for her to return.&amp;quot; Despite her soap sacking, Halfpenny won&amp;#039;t be off screens just yet: the 29-year-old has signed up to appear in the next series of ballroom dancing show Strictly Come Dancing. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/news/a16160/confirmed-eastenders-actress-axed/>