EastEnders star Laila Rouass has confirmed tonight’s episode of the BBC One soap will see her character exit Walford.
Laila – also known for her role in BBC One Holby City – arrived in Albert Square recently as Ayesha Siddhu.
Terminally ill Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) reached out to Ayesha in the hope that she would accept his apology for killing her husband Hardeep over 20 years ago.
‘[Ayesha] probably has hate in her heart for Nish because what happened to Hardeep, her husband, wasn’t an accident,’ actress Laila Rouass explained to us at the time.
‘She now knows that the circumstances that led to Nish killing Hardeep are not what she thought, and Suki was involved inadvertently.
‘So she’s not going to tolerate this behaviour from Nish, even if he is dying.
‘It is amazing that Nish still can’t let things lie even now. Imagine if Nish could take that energy and do something good with it – he could move mountains!’
It soon became clear that he had ulterior motive though, and intended to demonise his ex-wife when Ayesha learnt the truth behind the death.
After rushing out of Walford East, Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) raced after her and admitted that Nish became suspicious of the amount of time that she had spent at their house – and assuming that she was having an affair with Hardeep, killed him out of jealousy.
A huge admission soon followed… it was actually Ayesha that she had developed feelings for.
Sadly, Ayesha isn’t sticking around for much longer, as actress Laila has revealed on her Instagram tonight’s (August 12) episode of the BBC One soap will see her depart.Sharing a picture of herself and Navin outside the Queen Vic pub, Laila wrote alongside: ‘My last episode on @eastenders tonight. Thank you so much for all your wonderful messages and support. Had the best time being Ayesha.
‘Enjoy tonight’s episode and I’ll see you on screen again soon. Laila x’
‘Ayesha really likes Eve, actually,’ Laila admitted when asked about her character’s feelings towards Suki’s relationship with Eve Unwin (Heather Peace). ‘There is probably a bit of jealousy there from Ayesha, but only in a nice way.
‘Ayesha and Eve haven’t really had the chance to get to know each other, but she gets a nice vibe from her, which I understand because Eve is a really lovely person who wears her heart on her sleeve.’