Suki went above and beyond to help Vinny break free of Nish’s grasp, which resulted in his surprise exit during this Monday’s EastEnders. But he could still suffer a grisly fate.

Nish Panesar has seemingly decided to claim another life as Vinny ventured dangerously close to his firing line in EastEnders.

After being chased out of Walford by his own family over his abusive behaviour, the villain portrayed by Navin Chowdhry returned to the Square with bombshell news as he shared that he was suffering from a heart condition named myocarditis, which required him to undergo a heart transplant.

Unfortunately, with the chance of a donor being low, Nish’s health is slowly deteriorating and after finding out that ex-wife Suki (Balvinder Sopal) was in cahoots with their son Vinny (Shiv Jalota) to take over the family empire, a plot for vengeance bloomed in his mind.

During this Monday’s instalment of the BBC One soap (September 23, 2024), Suki desperately tried to warn Vinny not to follow Nish’s requests as his father urged him to buy a new chicken shop in an effort to cover up his money laundering.

Vinny shared a tearful goodbye with Suki and Eve but could his time have run out? (Image: BBC)

Vinny was plagued with doubt as both of his parents were ordering him to do different things and matters became dire when Nish organised for one of his accomplices to pick Vinny up and drive him to the location of the deal. Manipulated by Nish, who guilt-tripped him into going through with the deal, knowing he would let him take the fall for his criminal endeavours, Vinny went along with the plan – but backed out at the last second.

Once he found a distraught Suki at home with Eve Unwin (Heather Peace), both of which had been able to figure out what Nish’s real plan was, Vinny explained he had ditched the driver and spotted a crowd of police officers. While Vinny managed to escape the police, Suki knew he wasn’t out of the woods just yet as she reminded him that Nish had nothing to lose, making him likely to retaliate in a deadly manner.

Terrified for his safety, and convinced Vinny had little time before Nish found him for retribution, Suki went above and beyond to convince Vinny to flee. Though he was initially reluctant, Vinny agreed fleeing from Walford may be his best chance but a close call with Nish, who called at No.41 on the hunt for him, forced him to hide in the house while Suki and Eve stalled the villain.

Little did they know that Nish knew Vinny couldn’t be too far as he caught his mobile phone flashing to announce the imminent arrival of a taxi from Kat’s Cabs. Vinny was eventually able to get into his car, sharing a tearful and low-key goodbye with Eve and Suki. But in another scene, this Monday’s episode of the London-based programme ended on cliffhanger as Vinny’s driver was none other than Nish.

Many viewers suspected that Vinny was likely to suffer a brutal demise, with one writing over on Twitter, now X: “Vinny is In a dangerous trap.” Another echoed: “RIP vinny I guess??? Nish is evil.” A third commented: “Well vinny ain’t gunna make it through the weeks episodes is he.”

A theory soon emerged as the possibility of Vinny’s potential murder tying into Nish’s exit appeared more likely than ever: “My theory for Nish’s exit Now Nish has kidnapped Vinny while masquerading as a taxi driver , I think he or Harti will try to murder Vinny The police will get involved and Nish will be sent down I don’t think he’s dying and that doctor was in league with him”, one fan suggested. Earlier this year, actor Shiv Jalota sparked fears he could be leaving the long-running show as he took on a new role away from the programme – but is he really leaving?