Bhasker Patel will miss the "camaraderie" of the 'Emmerdale' cast.
Bhasker Patel has opened up about his Emmerdale exit
The 67-year-old actor has followed up his character Rishi Sharma's exit with a goodbye video message, admitting he'll miss his co-stars.
In the video - which has been posted on the 'Emmerdale' Twitter account - Bhasker explained: "The thing that I'll miss the most for Rishi is, you know, being in this village. He came here long ago and they embraced him and he embraced the village as well. And working here in the village, you know, we're the only soap who has this."
Bhasker also reflected on Rishi's connection with the TV audience.
He shared: "I think he's a bumbling character. He loved his family - he did everything for his family.
"He got into trouble once ... Jai made Rachel [Breckle], who was a cleaner, pregnant, and Jai was married to Charity [Dingle], and then he took on the blame saying: 'That's my baby!' Those are the moments that the audience would go: 'Ah he's a lovely, caring dad.'"
Bhasker also thanked TV viewers for their support over the last 12 years.
The veteran actor said: "Thank you for watching Rishi's story and I would like to thank everybody here because it's been a fantastic 12 years for me. The camaraderie is so great, so thank you and yeah, look after yourself."
Bhasker has admitted that playing Rishi has changed his life, describing the opportunity as a "God send".
Speaking on ITV's 'Lorraine', he explained: "For 12 years [on the show] and prior to that I’ve been a jobbing actor since 1980 and then getting a job like this was like a God send."