Recent EastEnders scenes saw Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) get quite a shock when former love interest Ayesha (Laila Rouass) arrived in Albert Square.
Ayesha had been contacted by dying Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) in the hopes that she would accept his apology for killing her husband Hardeep over 20 years ago.
However, Ayesha wasn’t prepared to forgive – especially after learning the real reason behind Hardeep’s death.
During a difficult conversation, Suki admitted that Nish believed she had been having an affair with Hardeep, and had killed him in a jealous rage.
‘[Ayesha] probably has hate in her heart for Nish because what happened to Hardeep, her husband, wasn’t an accident,’ actress Laila Rouass explained.
‘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!’
When he failed to win Ayesha’s forgiveness, Nish embarked on the next part of his plan – using her to damage Suki’s relationship with Eve Unwin (Heather Peace).
Nish was quick to plant seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind about Suki and Ayesha’s closeness when he explained that she is also a lesbian – something that Laila revealed Ayesha is suspicious of.
‘Ayesha is not stupid. She can see what he’s doing. Remember, Ayesha lived next door to Nish for years and was close to Suki, who would have spoken to her about her husband.
‘As an outsider, you always see that manipulation more clearly than the person being manipulated. So, she’s well aware of what Nish is doing in trying to push her and Suki together.
‘But there’s no doubt he’s right to think there might still be feelings there, given all that history between them.’
With Eve desperate to keep hold of her beloved, she takes drastic action this week by proposing to Suki – something that proves to be a ‘pivotal moment’ for Ayesha.
‘It comes out of the blue, and it’s going to be really hard for Ayesha to control her emotions,’ Laila teased. ‘She is so overwhelmed by everything that’s happening and how she feels about Suki having seen her again for the first time in so many years. So it’s going to be a very pivotal moment for Ayesha, that’s for sure.
Will Eve get the answer she wants from Suki – or has Ayesha well and truly thrown a spanner in the works?
‘Ayesha really likes Eve, actually,’ Laila admitted. ‘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.’
Would Ayesha be willing to ruin things between them if it meant restoring her bond with Suki?
