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Everyone loves a bad boy! Wolverhampton actor wins Villain of the Year at British Soap Awards

From 'The Boy with the Topknot' to East End bad boy – Wolverhampton-born Aaron Thiara has been hailed as Villain of the Year.

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Villain of the Year winner, Aaron Thiara, at the British Soap Awards 2023.

Aaron, more notoriously known as his EastEnders counterpart Ravjot Singh Gulati, has taken home the award for his performance on the BBC soap at the British Soap Awards 2023.

The Wolverhampton actor took home the top award after a playing career gangster and all-around bad boy "Ravi", with his first appearance was in July 2022.

During the 2023 awards ceremony, Aaron could be seen laughing as he took to the stage after being announced as the award-winner, thanking fans for the nomination.

In his winning speech, Aaron, 30, said: "To my wonderful cast members, you inspire me to raise the bar, to be diligent in preparation, without all of you this character wouldn't work.

"Before I started, Chris and I and a few other produced talked about how we would like to execute this character, and we settled on a love-to-hate, so if hate him, that's alright, and if you love him, that's alright too."

Aaron was born in Wolverhampton in 1993 where he went on to train at the East 13 acting school in Exeter before appearing in a number of productions and finally landing a spot on the EastEnders in 2022.

He also played Hardip in the 2017 hit BBC television drama, 'The Boy with the Topknot' where he played the role of Hardip.

The drama follows the best-selling memoir of Sathnam Sanghera, a journalist and author who grew up in the deprived Heath Town areas of Wolverhampton.

The memoir is described by the BBC as a 'humorous, touching and emotional story of a second-generation Indian family growing up in Britain'.

The drama was met with critical acclaim getting four and a half stars out of five on IMDB and featured Sacha Dhawan.