EastEnders stars Shiv Jalota and Juhaim Rasul Choudhury have paid tribute to Navin Chowdhry following his dramatic exit as Nish Panesar.

Chowdhry’s final scenes as Nish aired on New Year’s Day, as the villain made one final attempt to ruin his ex Suki’s life on her wedding day to Eve Unwin.

The dramatic episode culminated in Ravi pushing his father over a balcony, unaware that Nish had tied himself to Suki to bring him down with her. While it was later revealed that Suki survived the fall, Nish died from his injuries.

Shiv Jalota, who plays Nish’s son Vinny Panesar, has now taken to Instagram to pay tribute to Chowdhry following his final scenes, describing his co-star as a “mentor, friend, father and brother”.

“The universe works in beautiful ways @navinchowdhryofficial,” he captioned some behind-the-scenes photos from the episode.

“It has been a honour to share the screen with you on screen and off. A fitting closing chapter. You have left a legacy that won’t be forgotten in the history of @bbceastenders. The journey has only begun. Big love, man.”

“Love you, love you Shivaloo,” Chowdhry replied in the post’s comments section.

The actor’s other onscreen son Aaron Thiara (who plays Ravi) also commented on the post with a red heart emoji, while Sophie Khan Levy (Priya Nandra-Hart) shared some fire emojis.

Meanwhile, Nugget Gulati actor Juhaim Rasul Choudhury shared his own tribute to Chowdhry on Instagram, sharing some behind-the-scenes photos of the pair on set.

“You beautiful human. You’ve conquered the show for the last 2 years and to have shared the stage/screen with you has been an absolute gift,” he captioned the post.

“Your laughter, your knowledge and your legendary moments have been a wonder to witness. This last stint has been a dream come true. Love ya.”