EastEnders star Gurlaine Kaur Garcha confirms soap return just months after quitting

April 4, 2022

EASTENDERS fans were "over the moon" to see the return of a favourite daughter as the Ash Panesar actress announces her return to Walford.

Gurlaine Kaur Garcha played Ash Kaur – the daughter of Suki Panesar – in Albert Square on the BBC show from 2019 until her character's dramatic departure.

But the star, who spent her time off doing charity work in Africa, revealed her return to Albert Square in an adorable photo with her onscreen mum.

Gurlaine snuggled up to Suki actress, Balvinder Sopal, in an adorable photo she posted to Instagram.

She warmly put her arms around Balvinder as the pair kept warm in black winter coats.

"Together again," she captioned the post.

Eastenders fans were delighted to see the pair not only reunited but that Gurlaine was back on the show.

"Over the moon that @gurlainekaurgarcha is returning back to eastenders.🔥🔥🔥❤️," commented one fan.

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Another added: "YES!!!!! Miss you Ash!"

And a third wrote: "Nice to see Mum and daughter again."

The actress, whose other credits include Doctors and Holby City, swapped Walford for Malawi earlier this year and has posted about her travels on Instagram.

She visited schools across Malawi and delivering sanitary supplies to hundreds of young girls.

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Gurlaine spoke about her work: "Day three in Malawi. We helped 221 girls fight period poverty across two schools. We visited four villages to look at their water supply.

"Pad the path … 124 girls in one session, all so keen to learn and now thanks to @khalsa_aid – managing their period safely!!!!

"Another day of realising how privileged I, and so many of us are. Periods were never something I had to worry about, feel anxious about, or struggle to manage.

"I know I’ve taken this for granted and never given it a second thought. but after seeing these girls and knowing their struggle, I’ll ALWAYS remember how lucky I am – and I’ll do that for them."

Gurlaine joined EastEnders in 2019 and had been at the centre of huge storylines – including her family disproving of her relationship with Iqra due to their different religions.

Viewers saw Ash Panesar leave Walford in January but the character was given a low-key exit and Gurlaine had not said whether she'd quit for good.

Her exit from the show came after an eventful week for Ash as her sexuality was thrown into the spotlight.

Last year, Gurlaine spoke about auditioning for the soap and being told she had nabbed the role.

The actress told Inside Soap: "It’s still surreal! I’ve been on the show for over a year, and continue to have moments where I think, ‘I can’t believe I’m here'.

"You get actors who want to go to Hollywood, but genuinely, my dream was to be in Walford with the likes of Jake Wood (Max) and Adam Woodyatt (Ian). And now, my castmates are like a second family.