EastEnders’ Suki Panesar actress Balvinder Sopal is just seven years older than her on-screen sons
EASTENDERS star Balvindar Sopal is just seven years older than her on-screen children.
The actress - who has played villain Suki in the BBC soap for since January - rules her family with an iron fist but now her on-screen son Amar Adatia has revealed she's barely old enough to be his older sister.
He said: "Bal is lovely! We get along really well. It's funny cause there's only seven years between us so I don't look at her as a mother figure when we're not on set, she's a good friend.
"But as soon as we're on screen she's immediately the mum and matriarch of the family. "
Amar, 34, Jaz, 31, Shiv, 26 and 27-year-old Gurlaine are all too old to be Balvinder's, 41, real life children.
Amar was speaking as he revealed he would be leaving the soap next month after his contract came to an end.
The pest controller - who is played by actor Amar Adatia in the BBC soap - will turn on his scheming mum Suki and lose miserably.
The star has confirmed he has filmed his final scenes after extending his original contract due to the pandemic.
He said: "I always knew I’d only be in the show for a set period of time when I signed up.
"I had just finished shooting a film and had prior commitments to promote that but then the pandemic hit and everything understandably got put on hold.
"With timings all pushed back, I was more than happy stay a little bit longer to make sure that we wrapped up Jags’ storyline properly.
"I was really lucky to have those extra months of filming and to spend time with everyone on set before I said goodbye.
"I can't share too much about what happens but it serves to further prove just how far Suki will go to get her way!"
He added: "Jags went against her and being the strong women she is, just like their father in the past, anyone that goes against her doesn't tend to fare so well."
Actor Amar will now return to films after his soap stint including his latest Hollywood project.
He added: "I make films, so I've held out on my newest film until I finished at EastEnders because it's difficult to promote it whilst filming at the same time and with the pandemic everything has been pushed back timings wise.
"It’s called R.I.A which is a sci-fi film with Luke Goss, Dean Cain and myself and many other names - we shot it all in America just before I got the EastEnders gig actually.
"I'll hopefully be doing a tour for that with premiere's at the end of the year. I start shooting a whodunnit film in January, with some amazing names.
"I also have a boxing film that I'm making in summer next year so I'm working on getting in shape for that - the opposite of Jags! I'm looking forward to it and getting into training."