Benidorm fans stunned as Troy actor reveals why he disappeared from show

Actor Paul Bazely took a lengthy hiatus from playing his beloved Benidorm character after bagging a role in a Hollywood blockbuster.

The London-born star was quietly written out of the hit ITV sitcom in series four and only reprised his role as Troy Ganatra half a decade after he first jumped ship.

He swapped lounging around the pool at the Solana for sailing the seven seas alongside screen legend Johnny Depp - but even after hitting the big time, he couldn't resist working with the hilarious cast of holidaymakers once again.

Bazely has starred in a host of UK productions over the years, including the likes of Emmerdale, Casualty, Heartbeat, Doctors, The IT Crowd, Doctor Who, and of course, Benidorm.

His character's comical escapades with his former husband Gavin Ramsbottom cracked viewers up on a regular basis, as did their adventures with the most salacious swingers Alicante has ever seen, Donald and Jacqueline Stewart. And when series three aired in 2009, viewers thought that Troy would be getting a lot more airtime in the following seasons, given we were introduced to his estranged son Jamie in the final episode.

However, we never got to see this father and son relationship unfold on screen, as Troy was supposedly unable to head on his annual trip to the Solana as he was caring for his dying father back in the UK.

But in real life, Bazely was actually rubbing shoulders with the likes of Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush and Ian McShane on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

During a recent chat with fellow former Benidorm star Asa Elliott - who previously revealed how much he earned from starring in one episode of the show - the 58-year-old explained how he was poached by Hollywood bigwigs.

"It was terrible," Bazely said, before adding in reference to the show's creator Derren Litten: "Poor Derren!"

He explained that before filming began, Litten had informed him that Troy's relationship with his son was going to be a major storyline in the fourth series of Benidorm.

"He didn't really give me any details, but he planted that [seed] at the end of series three," Bazely said. "Then just before we all signed on for series four, I got this part in Pirates of the Caribbean.

"I remember saying to my agent, 'What is it, a couple of days at Pinewood?' And they're like, 'No, no, no - you're going to America for four months, you're in it from day one to the end'. I was one of Jonny Depp's pirates."

Bazely was cast as Salaman, who was one of the ragtag band of pirates who starred in the 2011 film, which was the fourth addition to the hit Disney franchise.

Although this was obviously the opportunity of a lifetime, the father-of-two explained he was initially apprehensive to inform Litten that he was trading the Costa Blanca for the Caribbean.

"I remember ringing him, because I just thought if someone's going to let him down, it's going to have to be me," Bazely told Elliott. "I remember ringing him and just going, 'Derren, I've got this job...'

"It clashed with the whole series. There was a long pause and he just went, 'Well, I'd do it'. Bless him.

"So then he just wrote me in for that one episode, the final ep, and even that was...Disney wouldn't release me, there were all sorts of problems."

Despite being absent for the entirety of the fourth series of Benidorm, Troy turned up in the final episode - and the Black Mirror actor who plays him revealed he pulled out all of the stops to get to Alicante on time.

'I've got to get on a plane to Benidorm!'

Bazely went on: "By then we were filming back in England in Pinewood and I was literally dressed as a pirate, waist-deep in water and they were going, 'We're doing one more take'.

"And I go, 'I can't do one more take, I've got to get on a plane to Benidorm!' They were all like, 'What?' All of these Americans had never heard of it. I was just like, 'Yeah, it's really important!'"

If only they knew how important Benidorm is to British culture, eh?

Thankfully, Bazely made it back in time to shoot a short reunion with his former on-screen spouse. But after that, it appeared as though the door had been closed on his role as Troy once again.

However, he explained that Litten got back in touch with him five years later, as he 'had a feeling' that he should bring the character back - so Bazely again returned to his Benidorm roots.

He ultimately appeared in both the eighth and ninth series, much to the jubilation of longtime fans of the show.

Despite being aware that Troy had gone AWOL, it seems a lot of folks had no clue that Bazely was off being a swashbuckler instead of dossing on a sun lounger at the Solana during his hiatus from the show.

One social media user said: "So that's why he came back with a beard..."

Another wrote: "That must be such a surreal experience. Literally finishing a scene for one of the biggest globally loved Hollywood movies of all time...to then go straight and shoot ONE episode of a British TV sitcom in Benidorm."

A third said: "Who would turn down working with Johnny Depp?"

A fourth chimed in: "But if he didn't take the Pirates role, then we would have never had Kenneth's character, who was such an amazing addition to the show. So it all worked out for the best in the end."

And a fifth added: "I just love Paul! So glad they brought Troy back though, another Beni legend."