10 December 2023 , 16:01
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Emmerdale star Bhasker Patel is unrecognisable in his new acting role, just months after his character was killed off in the ITV soap.
The 67-year-old is known for playing Rishi Sharma on the Dales and viewers were emotional when his final, tragic scenes aired as Rishi died after falling down a flight of stairs on the wedding day of his son Jai to Laurel. Now Bhasker is working alongside comedian Seann Walsh on a new sitcom and posed for a photo with the I'm A Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing star.
While Bhasker was clean-shaven in the ITV soap, he is now sporting a huge white beard for his new role which would give Father Christmas himself a run for his money. Soap fans would struggle to recognise their former favourite as Bhasker beamed with delight in the snap with Seann.
Emmerdale star Bhasker Patel is unrecognisable from his time on the ITV soapThe comedian posted the photo on his Instagram and captioned the pic: "And that’s a wrap. New sitcom coming soon." The sitcom role was not one that Bhasker had been looking for until he was given the unexpected news that his time on Emmerdale was coming to an end by soap producers, after playing the role for over a decade.
It comes after Emmerdale's Bhasker Patel broke his silence after his much-loved character, Rishi, died in a shock twist after 12 years in the village. Appearing on Lorraine with co-star Chris Bisson, who plays Jai, Rishi star Bhasker, 67, got teary over his emotional ITV soap exit and revealed that producers decided to kill his character off.
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Rishi Sharma, as played by Bhasker Patel, in Emmerdale (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)He said: "When the producer rang me and said: 'I need to talk to you and we're killing you off because we want a big story and it's going to be a big surprise.' Because my 12 years at ITV, they let me do a lot of other work, so I felt a part of ITV, a part of Rishi, but at the same time... I was working in London as well. So when the producer said 'we're going to kill you off', I was like: 'Okay, that part of my life with this guy is over and I'm going to move on'.''
To which guest host Christine Lampard said: "It's brutal though: 'we're going to kill you off' what a sentence to hear!" Later on the show, Christine, 44, decided to read out some messages from fans, which left Bhasker emotional as he wiped away tears.