EastEnders star Shaheen Jafargholi wows fans as he shows off his toned physique in shirtless snaps - eight years after appearing on the soap

Former EastEnders star Shaheen Jafargholi wowed fans as he showed off his toned physique in shirtless snaps on Instagram. 

Shaheen, 29, played Shakil Kazemi for two years on the BBC soap, before his character was dramatically stabbed to death in a hard-hitting knife crime storyline. 

Eight years on, Shaheen looks unrecognisable as he has traded his buzzcut for curly hair and has been working out hard at the gym. 

Showing off his buff physique in some park snaps, fans wrote: 'Phoar' and 'gorgeous' and 'Always hot'. 

The star first entered the spotlight on Britain's Got Talent aged 12 and singing is one of his main ambitions. 

He sang Michael Jackson's Who's Lovin' You, and ultimately finished in seventh place during the series three finals. 

Shaheen was invited to perform the same song globally at Michael Jackson's public memorial service in Los Angeles 

He landed the part of Shakil on EastEnders in May 2016 and his character's death hit headlines at the time. 

His onscreen funeral featured real-life families affected by knife crime. 

He said in an interview at the time: 'I wanted to know that we were going to do it right and that it was going to have a positive impact.

'The nature of the storyline was quite hard-hitting and intense to play, but if anything I was honoured. With a storyline like that, where it’s such a huge topic in real life, it was important for all of us involved to feel like we were portraying it as real as possible and doing a good job for this thing that happens to so many people in real life.

'For the reaction to be as positive as it has and for it to hold as much importance and impact as I feel it has has been really overwhelming and really exciting and I’m so proud of the show.' 

Following his soap exit, he immediately joined Casualty as regular student nurse Marty Kirkby, a role he played for five years. 

He stars as series regular Saeed Masood in the Sky and HBO legal drama War.