Laila Rouass lands EastEnders role

Laila Rouass is to make a guest appearance in 'EastEnders'.

The former 'Holby City' actress will star as Ayesha, who arrives in Albert Square following an invitation from evil Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) and it will quickly emerge she knew the villain and his wife Suki (Balvinder Sopal) a long time ago, but they haven't been in touch for many years.

Laila, 53, hailed her role as a "dream come true" and admitted she is particularly excited to work with her old friend Navin.

She said in a statement: “I cannot tell you how excited I am to be in EastEnders! I was born in the East End and grew up there, and there was such a buzz when the show started.

"Even though I was little at the time, I can clearly remember the first episode and Doctor Legg arriving at the flat where Reg Cox had been murdered.

"I’ve also known Navin Chowdhry (Nish Panesar) for many years, so it was great to work with him again and to do scenes with Balvinder Sopal (Suki Panesar) and the rest of the Panesars as Ayesha reunites with them. This is a lifelong dream come true!”

Laila has already filmed her scenes for the show, with her short stint set to play out on screen next month.

Suki and her son Vinny (Shiv Jaota) are currently plotting against Nish in a bid to secretly take control of the family empire, while his former daughter-in-law Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan-Levy) is out for revenge after agreeing to sleep with Nish and then being cast adrift from the family.