Aaron Thiara is reportedly set to leave EastEnders after four years as Ravi Gulati, with the exit expected early next year. He will stay on set until the end of the year, so the character’s current material is still set to play out before the departure lands.
Ravi Gulati in 2022
A source said Aaron has been at the centre of some of the soaps biggest storylines since his arrival as bad-boy Ravi back in 2022. That run has kept Ravi Gulati tied to the show’s more combustible plots, which is why the reported exit is more than a routine cast shift.
The same source said he is an incredibly popular member of the cast and the fans love him. It also said he has decided to focus on new projects, a simple explanation that points to a clean break rather than a temporary pause in the role.
End of year on set
He’s decided to focus on new projects, but will stay on set until the end of the year to see out some juicy storylines his character has in store. That gives EastEnders room to finish what it has already set in motion rather than cutting Ravi out abruptly.
A spokesperson for EastEnders declined to comment when approached by Radio Times. That leaves the report standing on the account from the source, with the on-screen exit still framed as something to watch for rather than a completed cast move.
New Year fallout
Ravi has already been pulled through Nicola Mitchell, Nish Panesar, Davinder "Nugget" Gulati, Priya Nandra-Hart, Suki Panesar-Unwin, Max Branning, Lauren Beale and Oscar Branning, so the character is not sitting on the sidelines. He was drugged by Nicola Mitchell, hallucinated Nish Panesar, attacked his son Davinder "Nugget" Gulati, and was diagnosed with complex PTSD before ending his relationship with Priya Nandra-Hart and leaving Walford.
After returning, Ravi made it his mission to discover which mystery man Priya had been sleeping with during his absence, and told Suki Panesar-Unwin that he intended to kill the secret man. The secret man is Max Branning, and Ravi could be the gunman who holds Lauren Beale and Oscar Branning hostage in the New Year, so the character’s exit window still overlaps with major unresolved damage.
For viewers, that means the important part is not only that Aaron Thiara is leaving, but that Ravi Gulati is expected to remain on screen long enough to finish the storyline chain already in motion. If the reported exit holds, EastEnders is using the rest of the year to write him out through plot, not silence.
