Dexter Hartman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, EastEnders, played by Khali Best. His debut was on 7 January 2013. Dexter is the grandson of Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell) and son of her illegitimate daughter, Ava Hartman (Clare Perkins). Dexter's storylines include his friendships with Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), his job as a mechanic with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), his struggle to accept his estranged father, Sam James (Cornell S John) only to learn that Sam initially tracked him down hoping he would donate a kidney and a tense relationship with the Carter family. In 2014, Best was suspended from the show for three months by executive producer, Dominic Treadwell-Collins due to bad behaviour. In November 2014, it was confirmed that Dexter would be written out of EastEnders in early 2015, making his final appearance on 2 January 2015