Amar Adatia has been left "overwhelmed" by the support he has received from ‘EastEnders’ fans, after it was revealed he is leaving the soap.
The 34-year-old actor has played Jags Panesar on the BBC One show since last October, but he will bow out of Walford as part of an explosive plot next month, with the hapless character’s no-nonsense mother Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) responsible for his exit.
He wrote on his Instagram Stories: "Just wanted to thank each and one of you for the support I have received since yesterday.
"It has been so overwhelming and motivating.
"I wish I could reply to every single one of you but just wanted to say thank you and love you all."
Amar admitted over the weekend that he always knew he would exit the show after a "set period of time" and has ended up staying longer in Walford than initially planned, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: "I was really lucky to have those extra months of filming and to spend time with everyone on set before I said goodbye.
"I can’t share too much about what happens but it serves to further prove just how far Suki will go to get her way."
But Amar looks set to be going back to the tougher route of filmmaking, as the star admitted in November last year that he found working on ‘EastEnders’ "a lot easier" than producing his own movies.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "It’s a lot easier, I’m not going to lie to you. Well, a soap is hard, it’s not easy. It’s very fast paced – much quicker than a film.
"But all I’ve gotta do is learn my lines, go in, and act – and to me, not having the other thousand and one stresses in my head, I find it a lot easier! I’m not gonna lie.
"But I’m lucky in a way, I’ve still got my business partner, the team, so we’re shooting another film next year. We’ve got ‘Ria’, another film we’ve made, just finishing post-production now."