EastEnders viewers were devastated after fan-favourite Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol) made his dramatic exit from the Square as he took the blame for Ranveer Gulati's (Anil Goutam) murder to save his mum, Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal).
During last night's emotional EastEnders episode (Thursday, November 10), Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) told Kheerat's girlfriend Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) about his devastating plan to take the fall for Ranveer's murder as he refused to let Suki go to prison.
Stacey furiously confronted Suki, who had just been released from custody, and told her about Kheerat's plan.
As Kheerat and Suki reunited, Suki demanded that he abandoned his plan and refused to let him be sent down for murder.
However, he ignored Suki's instructions and confessed to his siblings Ash (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha) and Vinny (Shiv Jalota) about what he was going to do to save the family.
After, he paid a visit to Stacey, who broke down in tears as she begged him to stay in the Square.
She said: "I'm falling in love with you and you expect me to just let you walk out of my life, just like that? Just go and do the noble thing and forget about me?"
He responded: "Forget about you? You think that I'm going to forget about you? You are the first person who's ever let me be myself. I have held my family together, I have fought for my brothers, I have mediated between my sister and my mum.
"And I've pushed myself to be this superhuman businessman and I lost myself. You are the one that's found me, but this is bigger than this. If my mum goes to prison, my entire family's going to fall apart, and I can't let that happen."
Despite her emotional plea, Kheerat went through with the plan and the police showed up to arrest him in the Square.
A heartbroken Stacey and his family sobbed as they watched Kheerat get arrested, where Stacey and Kheerat had one last emotional exchange.
"Don't forget about me," Stacey said.
"I couldn't, even if I tried," he reassured her as he was put into a police car and driven out of the Square.
EastEnders fans were crushed by the much-loved character's exit and all took to social media to share how gutted they were to see him leave...
I'm devastated that Kheerat has left the Square. The strongest and cleverest of the Panesar Children. He defended his mom from the start and was loyal untill the very end. @BalvinderSopal and @JazSinghDeol had a magical dynamic and that's what I'll miss the most #EastEnders 💔😭 https://t.co/2sWVrw4tmSNovember 11, 2022
Wait wait waitwaitwaitwait - Jaz/Kheerat is actually leaving #EastEnders???! Oh my god you’re kidding??? He’s one of the best actors/characters on the show right now??? Nooooo 🥺☹️😭November 11, 2022
My whole week is RUINED. Kheerat’s shock exit on Eastenders 😪😪😪😪November 11, 2022
@JazSinghDeol leaving #EastEnders has absolutely broken my heart 😭 I cannot believe this is the end of Kheerat. No more Kheerat and Stacey 😭November 11, 2022
Eastenders has got my emotional all over the place, wow I cannot believe kheerat has left 😩 I’m distraught how could they make that his last scene lol I’m all types of fuming atm with the story lineNovember 10, 2022
EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.
