| Kheerat Panesar | |||||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Jaz Deol | ||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2019–2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 6001 4 October 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 6589 10 November 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Jon Sen | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | The Queen Vic Quiz Night (2020) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Kheerat Panesar is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jaz Deol. Kheerat was introduced alongside brothers Jags Panesar (Amar Adatia), and Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) in episode 6001, broadcast on 4 October 2019, with the trio becoming the soap's first Punjabi Sikh family. Kheerat's arrival was announced on 21 August 2019, billed as the dominant and successful leader of his brothers. Deol was accepted the role after being impressed by what was pitched to him by the producers, and being excited to be a part of the show's first Punjabi Sikh family.
Kheerat's storylines in the serial have included the expansion of his family, helping to bring justice to Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith), his friendship with Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden), his romances and flings with several female characters including Chantelle Atkins (Jessica Plummer), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), and falsely confessing to the murder of Ranveer Gulati (Anil Goutam) to save his mother, Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), from arrest. In November 2022, Deol departed from the show as he wanted to pursue other projects. Deol received various awards and nominations for his portrayal, despite the character's departure being poorly received by audiences.