Nish Panesar actor Navin Chowdhry

has opened up about fan reaction to his character

on EastEnders and teased what happens

next for the evil BBC soap villain

Navin Chowdhry feared how fans would react to his vile soap character on EastEnders.

The legendary actor joined the BBC soap as evil Nish Panesar, and whilst he nearly met his maker this Christmas when he ended up being the body in the Queen Vic, he is back with a vengeance. Vinny and Suki are plotting to try and get his money after he admitted he is dying, but, of course, Nish is always one up – and could the pair find themselves in trouble?

Since his arrival on the Square, Navin has been shocked by the love people have for his character – despite Nish’s evil ways. Admitting he was surprised by the reaction, he explained how people have taken to the character.

Speaking exclusively to The Mirror and other press, he admitted his fears over people’s reaction to his character. He said: “There were moments where I thought what the hell are people going to say.

“But I’ve surprisingly been treated with such kindness and such generosity. I’m genuinely surprised that people have taken to him in a way because he’s vile and the response has been very heart-warming.”

Asked what happens next amid Nish’s illness, Navin warned his character was still a force to be reckoned with. He said: “I think it’s exciting. Nobody ever expected with a character like this. You’re constantly wondering who he’s going to inflict more pain on.”

Navin previously opened up about signing up for the BBC soap – and what appealed to him about Nish.

Speaking about joining the show, he said: “I was really keen to do it. Evil, sociopath, narcissist – all those words are thrown around to describe the character but it was the dynamics of the family drama that really appealed to me. It’s interesting that Nish lost out on being part of his children’s lives because of his own jealous anger and rage, and this murderous personality.

“When we first met him after he was released from prison, we didn’t know how he’d be able to reconnect after 20 years away, and navigate the mistrust his family had towards him to regain power and control over them. And then there’s his blind love for his wife, Suki, who has never really loved him in return. There’d been so much hype about Nish, he’d been spoken about for years, but we went slowly with the character at first, drip-feeding a few scenes a week. Then we started to see his true colours!”