"I remember feeling like I'd failed."
In January 2025, it was announced that Rakhee Thakrar would appear on Lacey Turner’s podcast We Started Here.
The podcast interviews several celebrities who began their careers in soap operas.
Lacey Turner is an EastEnders favourite, having played Stacey Slater since 2004.
Meanwhile, Rakhee Thakrar took over the part of Shabnam Masood from Zahra Ahmadi in the BBC soap.
Rakhee made her debut in Walford in January 2014, but while on Lacey’s podcast, she admitted that not all fans took to her portrayal.
The actress candidly revealed that some people hated her version of Shabnam.
Rakhee said: “When I started on EastEnders, and everyone hated Shabnam, like vehemently hated her, I remember feeling like I’d failed.
“I remember having this one day where I was crying in my bed.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to get through this?’
“Because it was just so much hate. And then I just remember going to work the next day and feeling quite free.
“Because I felt like I’d failed, and actually I hadn’t. I had created someone who had an effect.
“But in that moment, I felt like I’d failed.
“And, actually, what came the next day was utter freedom because I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing to lose’.
“It’s an interesting thing.
“And, also to fail in front of millions of people, which was what was in my head, I was like, ‘Well, I failed in front of like, I don’t know, five million people who watched it last night, how bad can it get now?'”
Rakhee Thakrar also spoke about how acting did not interest her until she was 15 years old.
Although the audience may have disliked Rakhee’s portrayal of Shabnam in her early episodes, it did not take long for the actress to win fans over.
In 2015, Shabnam had a tragic stillbirth with her partner Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami).
Rakhee’s sensitive and heart-wrenching portrayal earned her widespread acclaim.
In 2016, Shabnam departed EastEnders following Rakhee’s decision to move on.
The episode of We Started Here featuring Rakhee Thakrar will be available to stream on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
Along with Rakhee, Lacey will also be chatting to Davood.
Meanwhile, EastEnders is getting closer to its 40th anniversary which will see a host of exciting events.
These include the return of Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) and a fully live episode which will be broadcast on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
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