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EastEnders fan-favourite tipped for Strictly Come Dancing 2025 after awards success

Which Walford resident could be cha-cha-chaing onto the dancefloor this year?

Lacey Turner as Stacey Slater, Balvinder Sopal as Suki Panesar, Kellie Bright as Linda Carter, Gillian Taylforth as Kathy Cotton and Diane Parish as Denise Fox give icy stares to Letitia Dean as Sharon Watts in the Queen Vic barrel store in EastEnders.

BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

Published: Tuesday, 8 July 2025 at 3:44 pm

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Could one Walford resident be swapping the Square for the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom? Recent reports have suggested EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal could be joining this year's line-up after a whirlwind year on the BBC soap.

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According to The Sun, the BBC is "set to sign" the actress who, if the claims are true, would join a long list of EastEnders stars to grace the ballroom.

When approached for comment by RadioTimes.com, a Strictly spokesperson said: "We don't comment on speculation."

An EastEnders actor has appeared on Strictly consecutively each year since 2019, with Jamie Borthwick the latest to take to the dance floor.

Previous contestants have included Bobby Brazier, James Bye, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Maisie Smith and Emma Barton.

Sopal's character has had quite the journey on EastEnders, with her finally marrying Eve Panesar-Unwin (Heather Peace) in an explosive New Year's Day episode, which didn't come without its fireworks.

Balvinder Sopal in a black and white image, smiling ahead with one hand rested on her hip.

Balvinder Sopal in a Radio Times cover shoot. Nicky Johnston

The wedding day initially went off without a hitch, but that was before the evil Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) returned one last time in an attempt to ruin Suki's life.

After making his way to the wedding suite, Suki and Eve soon saw what Nish was capable of after poisoning Eve and explaining he wanted to kill himself and Suki, so all three of them could die together.

But Suki ran out onto the balcony, screaming for help. Ravi arrived to save the day and ended up pushing Nish off the balcony, not realising he had wrapped Suki's dress around his wrist, leaving them both to plummet to the ground.

Thankfully, Suki and Eve survived and Nish's menacing ways came to an end once and for all.

And her work hasn't gone unnoticed, winning the Soap Superstar accolade at the Inside Soap Awards for her role in The Six storyline.

Read more:

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer later this year.

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Katelyn Mensah, smiling against a lime green background.

Katelyn MensahSenior Entertainment Writer

Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.

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