EastEnders’ Balvinder Sopal confirms if she’s staying on the show ahead of Strictly debut
SOAP star Balvinder Sopal has revealed whether she’ll be Waltzing away from Walford due to her Strictly stint.
Actress Balvinder will be gracing the dancefloor this coming weekend alongside a plethora of famous faces competing for the Glitterball.
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The Suki Panesar-Unwin star follows the lead of fellow stars including Kellie Bright, Emma Barton and Bobby Brazier.
Balvinder, 46, has confirmed if she’s staying on the NTA-winning show.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Sopal said: “It will be a sort of reduced schedule, but I am working there.
“And actually, I quite like the idea that I get to do both.
“Strictly and EastEnders have a really great relationship.
“We always have somebody from the show on Strictly, so they’re very mindful.”
Speaking about being a ‘perfectionist’, she admitted: “I think the scrutiny will come from me first before anybody else.
“Even when I get my lines, I’m like, ‘Why this word? Why not that word? OK, I’ve got to make this work’.
“So I need to try and understand this language that we’re going to be speaking now because it is like another language.
“So, for me, I can’t think about the scrutiny of anyone else, because then I think I will just fall flat on my backside.”
EastEnders Star Balvinder Sopal Joins Strictly Come Dancing 2025!
Ahead of her first dance, the BBC One star told The Sun previously: “We’ve had brilliant people come on the show, absolutely.
“But I’m not thinking about anybody else’s shoes but my own. You can get some advice though.
“And I have done and they’ve been really supportive and wonderful.”
It comes after she took advice from former co-star Jamie, 31, who was axed from EastEnders following his use of a disabled slur while competing on Strictly last year.
She shared: “Emma Barton, Scott Maslen, Jamie Borthwick. Everybody has said just enjoy it because it goes so quickly.
“And drink lots of water, have your vitamins, magnesium, sleep, rest when you can. So yeah, just enjoy it.”
She joined EastEnders in 2020 as matriarch Suki Panesar and has already become one of the most-cherished characters on the show, famously being a part of The Six storyline in 2023.
The new series of Strictly kicks off this Saturday 20 September with 15 new celebrities hoping to go all the way and lift the trophy.
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