Aleks Shirovs

Aleks Shirovs is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Kristian Kiehling. He made his first appearance on 24 January 2014. Kiehling used to watch EastEnders to learn English and was happy to be cast on the soap, although he was initially self-conscious about his English language skills. Aleks is Latvian and is characterised as being outspoken, energetic and very serious about his business, as well as knowing what he wants and not caring on who he steps on to get it. The character is introduced as the new market inspector and many of his storylines revolve around his job, as well as his relationship with market inspector assistant Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel). Kiehling enjoyed working with Patel and said that Tamwar was one of his favourite characters. Aleks also starts a relationship with established character Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons), although the relationship suffers when Roxy finds out that Aleks was initially paid by her sister Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) to date her. Kiehling believed that Aleks really loved Roxy and thought they were an interesting match.

Aleks is later revealed to have a secret family in Latvia, with his wife Marta Shirovs (Noeleen Comiskey) and their daughter Ineta Shirovs (Octavia Alexandru/Gledisa Osmani). Aleks' cheating is exposed but Roxy stays with him, but their relationship suffers again when Roxy cheats on him with Ronnie's husband Charlie Cotton (Declan Bennett). Kiehling later left the role as he and the EastEnders team were not able to agree on a new contract and his exit aired on 16 April 2015, which saw him leave with his wife and daughter after being reported to the police by Tamwar for theft. His departure was kept secret in order to surprise viewers about the breakdown of Aleks and Roxy's relationship. Kiehling praised his time on the soap and said he would be happy to return, and he noted that he had received good reception from immigrants who related to some of his storylines. Aleks was generally well-received by critics and the public and Kiehling was longlisted for "Best Bad Boy" at the 2014 Inside Soap Awards. Various writers from the Daily Mirror discussed Aleks' cheating and behaviour as a market inspector, whilst a writer from Digital Spy criticised EastEnders for Aleks' exit and said he would miss the character, including his wardrobe.