EastEnders star Heather Peace, who lives in Brighton, has praised the BBC soap’s lesbian storyline as her character Eve Unwin prepares to tie the knot with Suki Panesar, played by Balvinder Sopal.
Eve and Suki, whose relationship began as a slow burn, have faced many obstacles along the way with Suki coming to terms with her sexuality and the scheming of her husband Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry).
Peace said in an Instagram post reflecting on their journey:
‘It’s been a long arc,’ she began, alongside a carousel of promo pictures for the wedding episodes.
‘Two and half years for #sukeve to get to this point. A love story. A story that resonates with all people regardless of gender, race, religion, sexuality. It’s about love. Connection. It’s about meeting your person.
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‘And for EastEnders to allow the space for this story to evolve has been quite something. It’s happened in real time. And as an actor who has never been involved in soap, long term, it’s been the thing that I take away as what’s precious about the genre. The time. The history. The space for nuance.
‘I want Suki & Eve to make it. I always have done. It’s representation across cultures. It’s just human in nature.
‘As a lesbian, married to my wife for many years, we exist, in successful partnerships that last forever. Our families matter.’
Followers flooded Peace’s Instagram post with positive comments with one user saying “A hundred thank yous to you and Bal for all your hard work and care in portraying this beautiful love story”, and another posting love heart emojis.
