EastEnders star lands Channel 4 role in new TV drama 6 years after shock onscreen death

EX EASTENDERS star Shaheen Jafargholi has revealed that he's landed a new role in a Channel 4 drama.

The actor, who played Shakil Kazemi on the BBC soap, is set to appear in a gripping new crime thriller, In Flight.

Filming is currently underway and features award-winning Katherine Kelly, who finds her life turned upside down when she is blackmailed into drug smuggling after her son is arrested. 

Shaheen, 27, who will play a character called Jordan, shared a photo of his script while behind-the-scenes.

The show will follow single mum and flight attendant Jo Conran.

Her son is serving a fifteen-year sentence in a Bulgarian prison for a murder he swears he did not commit.

Jo is approached by a gang who know all about her son and is blackmailed into using her job to smuggle drugs.

She soon finds herself pulled into a murky underworld of corrupt cops and hired killers, forced to carry out their orders with no escape in sight.

But Jo finds herself from her old life, her mission remains the same, to keep her son alive.

Shaheen's new role comes after his exit from Casualty in March 2023 after five years on the series.

Prior to that, he starred in EastEnders until 2018 when he was part of a knife crime storyline where he was stabbed by a gang leader.

In February, Shaheen was revealed as one of the new cast members on the second season of BBC Three show Wreck.

While Shaheen looks noticeably different from his days on EastEnders, he looks worlds away from the little boy who first rose to fame on Britain's Got Talent in 2009.

Shaheen appeared on the third series of the ITV show at the age of 12 and impressed the judges and viewers with his incredible vocals.

He made it all the way to the finals and finished in sixth place.

Following performances of classic Jackson 5 songs during the contest, he was asked to perform at Michael Jackson's memorial service in July 2009.

He sang Who's Lovin' You to a global audience but while his debut album was announced in 2011, it was ultimately never released, and Shaheen pursued acting instead.