EASTENDERS fans were thrilled to see their soap favourites looking worlds away from Albert Square as one of them threw a leaving bash.
Walford’s finest gathered to bid farewell to actress Gurlaine Kaur Garcha, who plays Ash Panesar in the BBC One soap, after she filmed her final scenes.
The cast gathered to bid farewell to Gurlaine
Max Bowden and Danielle Harold were among the guests at the meal
Lorraine Stanley, aka Karen Taylor in the long-running series, shared a snap of a large group of the cast gathered for a final dinner with Gurlaine.
She captioned the cute shot: “Lovely seeing you all for @gurlainekaurgarcha leaving meal,it was a pleasure working with you & I’m looking forward to seeing what you do next!”
She added: “Love my EastEnders family!”
In the shot were Stevie Basaula (Isaac Baptiste), Clair Norris (Bernie Taylor), Danielle Harold (Lola Pearce), Jamie Borthwick (Jay Brown) and Tony Clay (Callum Highway).
Also in the picture were Shiv Jalota, who is also leaving his role as Vinny Panesar, Matthew James Morrison (Felix Baker), Navin Chowdhry (Nishandeep Panesar)and Dayle Hudson (Peter Beale).
Max Bowden, aka Ben Mitchell, wasn’t in the shot but was at the event, as was seen in an instagram story at the end of the table with Danielle Harold.
Shona McGarty, who plays Whitney Dean, was also tagged in Lorraine’s post, but not in the shot.
News of Gurlaine’s upcoming exit was made official by a spokesperson for EastEnders at the end of January.
“We can confirm that Gurlaine will be leaving EastEnders, and we wish her all of the best for the future”, they said, leaving soap fans in the dark.
But speculation about the Ash Panesar star‘s departure began before the announcement on social media.
Gurlaine made it clear she could be leaving Albert Square when she shared new snapshots on her Instagram account.
At the time, the 29-year-old simply claimed she was “Excited for what’s to come”, but gave no further details.
However, she confirmed she signed with New York talent agency Framework Entertainment through this same post.
Jamie Borthwick posed for a cute snap with Gurlaine
Gurlaine as Ash in the popular soap
