"To have shared this with you is the greatest prize."
On Thursday, January 2, 2025, Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) met a grisly demise in BBC’s EastEnders.
Recent episodes of the soap showed Nish turning up at the wedding of his ex-wife Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) and Eve Unwin (Heather Peace).
Despite knowing that Nish was around, Suki and Eve were determined to go ahead with their wedding.
However, Nish poisoned Eve’s drink at the venue.
Before this, he knocked Denise Fox (Diane Parish) unconscious in the Square, mirroring how she had done the same to him during Christmas 2023.
Nish bundled Suki to the roof of the venue and goaded his son Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) into pushing him down.
However, Nish had cunningly attached himself to Suki’s veil. Therefore, when Ravi pushed Nish from the roof, Suki went down with him.
While Nish died then and there, Suki, Eve, and Denise were all rushed to the hospital.
Eve regained consciousness and rushed to Suki’s bedside. When Suki stirred, the spouses lay together in bed.
As Eve told Suki that Nish was dead and they were finally free, Suki murmured: “We win.”
The iconic Julia’s Theme played over Suki and Eve lying together as Nish was zipped into a body bag, marking Navin’s permanent exit from EastEnders.
Navin recently revealed the leaving present he got from the show.
He said: “I’ve got my Albert Square board. [Executive Producer] Chris Clenshaw gave me some cufflinks.
“Obviously, cufflinks were a big part of the Sixmas story and a big part of Nish’s journey.
“He gave me the most beautiful set of cufflinks with the EastEnders Thames logo, and I will wear them with huge pride.
“I will now always have a little bit of Walford with me whenever I wear my suit.
“It’s been the most wonderful adventure that I could have hoped for.
“My last day of filming was a very emotional one. There were tears from quite a lot of us on the day.
“It’s meant so much to be a part of this journey.
“With Balvinder, it’s been an absolute joy. We’ve had such a laugh, there’s so much love, there’s been tears, there’s been joy.
“It’s never felt unnatural. It has always just felt so easy and comfortable to explore what we wanted to do.
“It doesn’t happen all the time, and I just feel incredibly lucky for the collection of people that were put together.
“There was so much love and respect and laughter amongst our group.”
Navin joined EastEnders in September 2022 as Suki’s estranged husband and the father of Ravi, Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Singh Deol), Ash Panesar (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha), Jags Panesar (Amar Adatia) and Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota).
He was also the grandfather of Davinder ‘Nugget’ Gulati (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury) and Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James).
They are the children of Ravi and Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy).
Villainous, scheming, and sharp, Nish Panesar quickly became one of the show’s detestable characters.
After his death aired, the show released an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip of Navin receiving his gift.
In the clip, Chris Clenshaw told Navin: “To play a role like Nish isn’t easy.
“As we spoke from the beginning, it was always going to end like this for Nish. We thank you for everything you’ve brought to the show.
“You do leave a Nish-shaped hole. You’ll be hugely missed, and we wish you the best for the future.”
Navin emotionally said: “This has been more than a job for me. This has been so much more.
“It’s quite simply been one of the most magical chapters that I can remember.
“There’s been one reason for that, and that is all of you.
“My journey has come to an end now, and I will watch you all from afar with so much love and affection as a fan of the show, which is what I am and what I always will be.
“I have to give a special mention to my beautiful onscreen family, the Panesars.
“To Jaz and Gurlaine before, and the newbies Sophie and Aaliyah.
“To my beautiful boys, Juhaim, Aaron, and Shiv.”
Navin then pointed towards Balvinder and continued: “To this one here. It’s not been easy with this one! But it’s been an absolute dream.
“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 continues on Monday, January 6, 2025.
Watch Navin Chowdhry’s BTS Video:
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