ITV Loose Women presenter's four-word tribute to co-star who 'saved her job'

Casualty: Sunetra Sarker on Charlie Fairhead's departure

Loose Women star Sunetra Sarker has praised Charlie Fairfield who starred in Casualty for nearly four decades. The ITV panellist, 50, opened up about sharing the screen with Derek Thompson calling it a “privilege”.

For 38 years Derek, 75, starred in the popular BBC show after stepping back at the start of this year. He was the longest serving cast member after appearing in the first episode back in 1986.

Sunetra gushed as she told her co-hosts Linda Robson, Kaye Adams and Nadia Sawalha that viewers were lucky “to get him to stay in this warm place, and I was just so privileged”. She recalled that he was there throughout her duration on the show.

“I mean, he was there on my first day for me to be there on his last day, there was this really special memorable moment in and all the stuff”. Sunetra claimed that he was the “man of the show”.

She added: “People wouldn't have jobs had it not been for Derek's character being so successful in that first series to push the show all the way through.” The actress continued to brand him a “national treasure” and expects to work on other projects.

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Loose Women’s Sunetra Sarker hails Casualty co-star for carrying the show making it a huge ‘success’ (Image: ITV)

Earlier this month, Derek bowed out of Casualty after he was stabbed by a patient and left fighting for his life.

Fans were left waiting on the edge of their seat during the nail-biting episode to find out whether he survived, but thankfully he did, and decided it was time for him to retire.

The Belfast-born actor appeared in 900 episodes of hospital drama. Back in May last year he announced he was leaving the programme.

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Derek Thompson starred on Casualty for 38 years (Image: ITV) SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

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At the time he said: "The time has come for me to hang up Charlie's scrubs." Before adding, he had had a “wonderful” time playing the senior charge nurse.

During his last episode, the team was seen frantically attempting to save his life following the bloody attack.

He slipped in and out of consciousness and had a flashback to the start of his career at the hospital – taking viewers on a trip down memory lane.

A young version of Charlie, played by Jack Franklin, was seen arriving at the iconic hospital doors to find a nail bomb had exploded and the emergency department was filling up with serious casualties.

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Derek Thompson appeared in 900 episodes of Casualty (Image: BBC)

Initially, viewers thought this was his life flashing before his eyes, but they breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the episode when it became clear that Charlie had survived.

He was applauded as he left the hospital with the episode ending with him sitting in the passenger seat of a yellow car, which had a sign saying "Just retired" displayed on the back.

Casualty continues on Saturday at 8:35pm on BBC1 and Iplayer.