Emmerdale's Rishi actor looks very different just days after dramatic soap exit

08 August 2023 , 22:25

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Emmerdale's Rishi actor looks very different just days after dramatic soap exit

Actor Bhasker Patel looks almost unrecognisable after his character, Rishi Sharma, was killed off Emmerdale last month.

After his departure from the ITV1 soap, Bhasker, 67, left fans delighted after sharing snaps from his latest project after his character, Rishi Sharma, was killed off the hit ITV soap in July. Taking to Instagram, the actor revealed it was a "wrap" on the movie Leviathan, which is a ten-part film cycle, as he shared a collection of snaps.

Bhasker penned: "That’s a WRAP on #leviathancycle #episode #epidose10 @xanadujenn @bartsienkiewicz #shezaddawood #director @emebenjamin @hyovaro finally said bye to Nemo #character & reunited with Ding Ling #thatsallfolks."

Since then, the soap star has been making the most of his time off and recently enjoyed a day trip to Sussex where he enjoyed a pub lunch with his beloved dog. The former Emmerdale actor delighted his fans and followers as he posted a sweet snap of himself feeding his dog while sitting in a beer garden - and sporting a bushy grey beard.

Rishi, died in a shock twist after 12 years in the village (@bhaskerpatel/Instagram)

Beaming to the camera while donning a bright blue shirt, Bhasker looked worlds away from his Emmerdale character as he rocked a much more rugged look than his clean-shaven Emmerdale character, Rishi. Alongside the sweet snap, the actor wrote: “Loving the long walk but not the strong L wind today. Bit pebbly underfoot.”

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It comes as Rishi's cause of death was revealed last week after fans had feared a "sinister" twist. Last month, as Jai Sharma and Laurel Thomas celebrated their wedding together with their family and friends, Rishi was not present, having fallen out with his son over lying about who his father really was.

In an emotional speech, Jai spoke of celebrating absent friends, as he thanked his dad Rishi for always supporting him and vowed to talk to him soon and tell him how much he meant to him. And, in true soap style, the camera then panned to see Rishi lying dead at the bottom of the stairs in a heartbreaking twist with his body discovered by Jai.

Soap watchers had been quick to speculate Rishi's cause of death with many wondering if he fell down the stairs or if he had a heart attack due to his past heart issues. However, some viewers predicted a more sinister twist and that Rishi could have been pushed down the stairs as they questioned who could be a suspect.

Emmerdale's Rishi actor unrecognisable just days after shock soap exit (instagram.com/bhaskerpatel)

The actor has been sporting a rugged beard after his Emmerdale exit (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

However, despite viewers' speculation, Rishi's cause of death was revealed on Friday's episode as an accidental fall. Jai told his new wife Laurel: "Dad's body has been released. The coroner has confirmed the death as accidental fall." To which Laurel replied: "Oh Jai, I know you thought it was his heart so that's a huge weight lifted." Jai added: "Yeah, it is, now I can concentrate on giving him the best send-off that I can."

Emmerdale's Bhasker recently 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.

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 of 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.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.

Susan Knox