Exclusive: EastEnders star responds to fans’ death theory as he teases ‘twists and turns’

EastEnders star Shiv Jalota has addressed a theory his character Vinny Panesar could be killed off on the BBC soap.

Worried viewers have been predicting a grim death for the son of Suki and Nish Panesar for months, ahead of evil Nish’s exit from the show. Just weeks ago Nish tried to kill his son, with fans convinced Vinny would die.

Luckily Vinny was saved and lived to tell the tale, but it hasn’t stopped speculation of a tragic death hitting the Panesar family. With viewers still convinced Nish could survive and stay on the soap amid a terminal illness, might Vinny be in danger?

Hopefully him surviving his recent brush with death is enough to rule out Vinny as a shock victim. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror recently, actor Shiv confessed even his real-life family feared his character was about to die on the soap after the recent dramatic scenes.

Viewers saw Nish prepare to kill his own son after realising he was against him. Nish whacked him over the head and held him hostage, before threatening him with a knife.

Speaking about the twist, Shiv told us: “So my actual dad was ringing me after it aired like, ‘Are you gonna die?’. I had to be like I can’t tell you anything! But it was amazing, an amazing storyline.

“I’m very lucky I got some good meat to play with Nish, and Vinny still sees him as his dad. It’s the conflict of that and when he whacked me over head!” Vinny and Nish seem to be on civil terms at the moment, despite Shiv telling us Vinny would no longer care about his dad – so might more drama be ahead?

He teased: “Vinny is all for his mum. He wants Suki and Eve to be happy together. He sees that now and he wants his dad gone. He doesn’t want to be involved with him anymore.” The actor did tease more twists ahead though before Nish’s exit.

Spoilers have revealed that next week, Nish questions Suki over the true events of Christmas Day. Convinced she and The Six are hiding something, he pushes and pushes until he seemingly figures something out.

With him tormenting Suki once more and coming for The Six, could there be another death twist on the way a year on from his near-fatal attack? Shiv told us: “I can’t say too much. There’s gonna be [twists and turns ahead].

“Nish Panesar is such a massive villain, and Navin Chowdhry plays him so well. Anything can happen at the moment. The soap is so good right now that it’s all unpredictable. I don’t know what will happen next but there is a lot more to come [before Nish leaves].”