Inside EastEnders and Strictly star Balvinder Sopal’s life and prolific career

EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal is set to swap Albert Square for the Strictly Ballroom as she joins the line up for Strictly Come Dancing 2025.

The news was confirmed on Good Morning Britain, with Richard Arnold heading to the EastEnders set to speak to Balvinder about her latest venture.

‘I can’t stop butterflies. Every time I think about it, they just go, so, yeah,’ Balvinder said, before addressing her history with dance.

‘I dabbled a little bit. I did ballroom and Latin as a kind of hobby, and I really love it. And I think when you’ve got a passion for something, you’re naturally inclined to enjoy it. So I’ll definitely enjoy it.

‘I don’t know if I’ll be any good!,’ she added, saying she loved the drama of Latin dancing.

The actress has played the role of matriarch Suki Panesar on the BBC soap since 2020, and will continue to appear on the show during her Strictly stint.

Suki has been involved in some enormous storylines over the past five years, with perhaps her biggest being the one that saw her fall in love with Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) as she struggled to accept her sexuality.

Things got more complicated when abusive husband Nish Panesar was released from prison and inserted himself back into Suki’s life.

Over the next few months, Nish made Suki’s life hell, until she found the courage to finally leave him and start fresh with Eve.

It was never going to be that simple, though, and Nish went out of his way to try and get Suki back. Things came to a head on her wedding day to Eve, when he poisoned his rival and pulled Suki over the edge of a balcony.

Thankfully, the newlyweds survived the ordeal and Nish’s reign of terror was finally over.

In more recent weeks, Suki and Eve have found themselves involved in a major disagreement, following Suki’s decision to adopt Avani Nandra-Hart’s (Aaliyah James) baby.

Eve didn’t think this was the right thing to do for anyone involved, and supported Avani in her final decision to have a termination. How will Suki cope with Eve’s betrayal?

Balvinder Sopal’s family life

Hailing from Kent, Balvinder was born on December 4, 1978 and is the eldest of four children.

She previously shared pictures alongside younger sister Manjeet, wowing fans with how alike they look.

‘There is no bond like that of sisters!’ She wrote alongside the post in celebration of Manjeet’s birthday in 2021, revealing that she ‘based “some” parts of Suki Panesar’ on her.

Last year, Balvinder opened up about the loss of her mother Nirmal in a moving tribute on Instagram.

She reflected on how ‘fiercely supportive’ Nirmal was of her children, adding that ‘LOVE is Mum’s legacy’.

The post was inundated with supportive messages from Balvinder’s EastEnders co-stars, as well as family, friends and fans.

Speaking about how she thinks her mother would react to her appearance on Strictly, Balvinder said: ‘This is her dream. Actually, I think she would have been extremely proud. So, yeah, hold mom’s legacy.’

Balvinder has previously shared how she still lives in Kent, and makes the commute to Elstree Studios for work.

‘I’m from Gillingham, just down the road from here. So I travel from Gillingham to Elstree,’ she told KentLive in 2022.

‘Unless I’m working early morning, which is a seven o’clock start, then I’ll stay over because I’m not attacking the M25 at five in the morning!’

What other roles has Balvinder Sopal had?

Before taking on the role of Suki, Balvinder was no stranger to soaps.

She has had several roles in Emmerdale, as solicitors and police officers, played a police woman across four episodes of Coronation Street and also appeared in Doctors and Waterloo Road.

In 2018, she starred in four episodes of Hollyoaks as social worker Liz.

She also appeared in an episode of BBC drama Call the Midwife as Mumtaz Gani.

Earlier this year, she also stepped into the role of guest editor on BBC Radio Kent, taking to the airwaves for an edition of The Wake Up Call, hosted by Anna Cookson.