Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) has made a surprise return to EastEnders after a 10 week absence.
The character was seen in the family kitchen during last night’s episode, helping Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy), Suki and Eve Panesar-Unwin (Balvinder Sopal and Heather Peace) prepare a meal.
Priya was hoping that it would help build a bridge with daughter Avani (Aaliyah James), who was devastated after learning her complaint against the police officers that strip searched her had been dropped.
As Vinny stood cutting the carrots, soap fans took to social media to express their surprise at seeing him after such a long break.
One fan exclaimed: ‘Vinny sighting!!! Hello, my son!’, which followed an earlier tweet reading: ‘Another episode of me wondering where Vinny is. Does he even live at no. 41 anymore, i see ravi there more than him!!’
‘Is that Vinny standing in the background? Forgot about his existence!’ said another.
A third added: ‘OMG VINNY IS BACK!’
‘Treated to a Vinny appearance in EastEnders today,’ said a fourth: ‘After being absent for weeks on end, he very obviously appeared in this episode especially for me as a birthday treat.’
The last time we saw him on our screens was during the show’s 40th anniversary celebrations in February.
Poor Vin’ was one of the many residents stuck inside of The Queen Vic when it exploded.
Amid the destruction, Martin Fowler (James Bye) lost his life, with everyone else exiting through a window or via the barrel store.
Prior to that, Vinny was at the centre of a huge storyline, following the downfall of his father Nish (Navin Chowdhry).
Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) brought an end to the sinister businessman’s reign of terror at New Year, when he pushed him over the edge of a balcony to his death.
Nish had escaped prison and hid away in a derelict flat on George Street, preparing to exact revenge on his ex-wife Suki and her then-wife to be Eve.
On the day of their wedding, he fled to the venue and attacked Vinny, before poisoning Eve.
In a shocking twist, as Nish fell, he dragged Suki with him.
Luckily, Nish was the only one to meet his maker that day.
In the scenes that followed, the family reeled upon learning that he had bestowed his business assets to children Avani and Nugget (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury), and made Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) trustee.
