SHOCKING NEWS!!! Major EastEnders character stages unexpected return

The last time EastEnders viewers saw Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), he forbade Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) from visiting him again in the mental health unit he was admitted to following an attempt to take his own life, breaking up with her and breaking her heart in the process.

Desperation saw Ravi make the decision to re-enter the criminal world last year, when he sought out Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington) for a contact to help him re-establish himself in the drug game.

Things quickly spiralled and Ravi was forced to make even more extreme decisions to stay afloat, such as cuckooing vulnerable Kojo Asare (Dayo Koleosho), imprisoning Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) and leaving him at the non-existent mercy of his lieutenant, Tobias ‘Okie’ Okyere (Aayan Ibikunle Shoderu), leading directly to his debilitating addiction, Okie’s death and the imprisonment of Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian).

Ravi was later forced to turn informant for the police when Harry reported his role in the racket, with the worry his grassing would lead to Priya and his kids, Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) and Nugget Gulati (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury) being harmed crippling him.

His removal from the family home by Suki and Eve Panesar-Unwin (Balvinder Sopal and Heather Peace), concerned the presence of a known drug dealer would scupper their adoption hopes, sent him into hiding following a violent, bloody beating courtesy of his ‘boss’. When he returned, he found himself hunted for vengeance by the Mitchell duo of Harry and Laura who wrought a terrifying revenge on him.

After they drugged his drink, Ravi suffered terrifying hallucinations of Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry), and savagely beat his son, Nugget, convinced that he was his evil dad. When he awoke the following day and learned that Nugget had been rushed to hospital after a battering, he put two and two together, and his heart broke further when, as a direct result of what he’d done, Nugget was diagnosed with epilepsy.

When Priya learned Ravi was behind the attack, she made him swear to keep quiet, but he was quickly unravelling and began self harming. Priya was devastated to discover the self-inflicted wounds on his body as she tended to him after a vicious beating from Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple), one Ravi instigated as a further form of self-punishment.

While Priya took Ravi to the doctors, he was told that it’d be a wait before he could access talking therapies, and he continued to worsen. Reacting strangely to a fall out between Nugget and Will Mitchell (Fred Phillips), Suki learned of his struggle and offered to finance treatment, but Ravi had reached breaking point.

After another episode of self-harm required a hospital visit, a further confrontation between Nugget and Will led to Ravi exploding anddeclaring that the entire family must go home for a ‘reset day’ – though it quickly became clear to Priya that Ravi had no intention of releasing them.

Priya, desperate to reach help for Ravi, suggested that they flee Albert Square, though when they got hold of a car, Ravi realised she was taking him to hospital. As he exploded and Nugget suffered a seizure, the family ended up in a collision with Max Branning (Jake Wood) and Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins).

Ravi fled the scene, ascending the bridge over Albert Square, where he was found by his family. Determined to end his life, it took the entire family to talk Ravi down, and as they did, he was apprehended by medical professionals and sectioned. When Priya visited him, he ended things with her and demanded she never visit him again.