EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal has shared the touching life lesson her late mum left her with, as she spoke to the Daily Star on the Rainbow Honours red carpet in London on Thursday (June 11). Balvinder, who plays Suki Panesar in the BBC soap, said the biggest thing her mum taught her was simple, but powerful.
"The biggest lesson from mum? To love," she said. "Just to love unconditionally." Reflecting on the event, celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community, she added: "And that's what it means to be here. That's pride."
The actress also revealed her mum was a big fan of Suki's on-screen partner Eve Unwin. "I lost my mum a couple of years ago, but my mum was a real fan of Eve," Balvinder said. "She said Eve is very beautiful, and what a lovely relationship that was. So when you get the seal approval from your parents, doesn't really matter what anyone has to say does it."
Pride and Community Support
Speaking about attending Rainbow Honours, Balvinder said she felt proud to be part of the celebrations. "It's an honour to be part of such an amazing community and accepted," she said.
Balvinder also opened up about the impact of EastEnders' LGBTQIA+ storylines within the South Asian community, saying she's seen a lot of warmth and support - even when she expected it might be difficult. "Being relatable. A lot of unconscious bias," she said. But she admitted: "I found the South Asian community to be wonderful in accepting the story lines that we have been telling on EastEnders. It's been a challenge but a great one at the same time."
She revealed the public reaction has often been unexpectedly uplifting - especially from older viewers. "Often I get stopped in the street by aunties and they always go [thumbs up] you're brilliant. At the beginning I did go sort of 'she's a gay character', 'doesn't matter, she's still brilliant, she's really good, we love her strength'," she said.
Life Away from Walford
Away from Walford, Balvinder admitted she hasn't joined the nation in obsessing over The Traitors - yet. She quipped: "I haven't watched the Traitors because I'm never sure I'm gonna understand it or not, it feels like a sort of high brow very intellectual, intelligent show. But my sister loves it, she tells me I should watch it."
And on the topic of wild predictions - including talk of aliens - Balvinder had a typically down-to-earth take. She said: "[Aliens?] Look, anything goes, we're in a world where anything can happen, there's lots of people talking about lizard people and stuff like that, so idk, maybe....I would say that I… no."
