It was a joyous Hollyoaks reunion as the stars gathered to celebrate

star Rishi Nair’s engagement to his long-term girlfriend.

The actor, who has played Sami Maalik from 2017 to 2021,

popped the question during a romantic proposal to partner Natalie.

Rishi, 33, threw an elaborate engagement soirée with friends and former

co-stars including Harvey Virdi, who played Misbah Maalik and Haiesha Mistry, who played Yasmine Maalik.

The joyous couple beamed from ear to ear as they shared a sweet kiss while cutting their cream frosted cake.

Haiesha, who played Rishi’s on-screen sister, shared a photo of her enjoying the beautifully designed cake.

She wrote on Instagram: ‘A weekend celebrating love. Congratulations to you both.’

Rishi portrayed Sami for four years, having made his debut in the long-running soap back in 2017.

Sami first arrived in the village on a mission, desperate to get revenge on James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan), who he believed had a role to play in the events which led to his dad’s death.

The character featured in numerous storylines over the years, with highlights including his relationships with both Sinead Shelby (Stephanie Davis) and Verity Hutchinson (Eva O’Hara).

The Channel 4 soap currently airs five times a week but this will be reduced later in the year, with just three outings moving forward when the new transmission pattern comes into play in September.

The reduction is a direct result of research which suggests that younger audiences, Hollyoaks’ key demographic, are more inclined to watch an average of three episodes a week due to other forms of content competing for their attention.

The reduced output, however, will result in up to 135 redundancies which is thought to be around a third of Hollyoaks staff.

Despite the changes, Channel 4 remains committed to Hollyoaks.

‘To be clear, Hollyoaks with its unique voice and authentic storytelling, remains at the heart of Channel 4 programming and front and centre of its Digital First strategy,’ staff were told.

‘This has been reinforced by a multi-year commitment to the series. It remains at the heart of Channel 4’ s output and at the forefront of its streaming service. We will be on air to celebrate our 30th anniversary and beyond.

The station’s chief content officer Ian Katz stated that the change in episode count will usher in a ‘new era’ for Hollyoaks, one of ‘more scale and impact’.

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