He won the award for 'Villain of the Year'.
The British Soap Awards 2025 was a glistening night as some of the biggest stars from UK soap operas gathered at Hackney Empire, London.
Presented by Jane McDonald, the ceremony was held on May 31, 2025.
One of the winners at The British Soap Awards was Navin Chowdhry, who left a mark on BBC’s EastEnders as Nish Panesar.
Nish made his first appearance in the show in September 2022 and quickly cemented himself as one of the soap’s most hated villains.
The cruel, controlling, deranged husband of Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), Nish was not a man to be messed with.
He made enemies, attempted murder, and made plenty of threats during his time on the Square.
Nish was seething when he discovered that Suki was having an affair with Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) and did everything he could to separate them.
During Christmas 2023, Nish was attacked by The Six but falsely confessed to murdering their real victim, Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).
After escaping prison, he tried to kill Eve on her and Suki’s wedding day, but his illegitimate son Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) pushed him to his death in January 2025.
Despite Navin having left the show, viewers voted for him at the British Soap Awards, and he won the award for ‘Villain of the Year’.
This marks the second consecutive win for EastEnders in this category, following Aaron’s victory at the 2023 ceremony.
When he filmed his final scenes on the show, Navin commented:
“I started in this business when I was 15, and the most beautiful director took me aside and said, ‘If you can leave a job with love in your heart for the people you’ve worked with and for the experience that you have shared, then you know you’ve been a part of something so special’.
“That’s what I have had with all of you guys. It means more than any plot-line, any ‘duff-duff’, any stunt, any exit, anything.
“To have shared this with you is the greatest prize of all.”
“I will miss you all terribly, and I will love you always.”
EastEnders dominated The British Soap Awards 2025 with eight total wins.
They won in all the viewer-voted categories, including ‘Best Soap’, and also took home four panel-voted awards.
Other winners from the soap included Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater, ‘Best Leading Performer’), Patsy Palmer (Bianca Jackson, ‘Best Comedy Performance’), and Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell, ‘Best Dramatic Performance’).
Meanwhile, Hollyoaks won three trophies, while Emmerdale won two awards. Coronation Street was given one award.
Find out who all the winners were here.
The British Soap Awards 2025 will be broadcast on ITV on Thursday, June 5, at 8 pm.
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