Ayesha Rana is the daughter of Rabiah Rana. She made her first appearance on 17 December 2012 and last on 1 March 2013. She was portrayed by Shivani Ghai.
Backstory[]
Ayesha was born and raised in Newcastle, where she lived a sheltered life for 23 years under strict ruling from her parents. Her father had a good relationship with her and he doted on her. Her introverted nature kept her out of exploring the wonders of life, as well as the presence of her uncaring brothers who called her boring and her distant mother. However, when Ayesha's father died in a tragic accident, her relationship with her family worsened and she decided that she would leave her family home to stay with the Masoods in Walford in order to chase her father's dying wish of going through an arranged marriage as her mother claimed that she had found Ayesha 'the perfect match' in London, a man named Rashid Kayani.
Storylines[]
2012-2013: Time in Walford[]
Ayesha is first seen in the cafe, where Zainab does not recognise her, and accuses her of pushing in the queue ahead of her. Later, Ayesha arrives at Zainab's home while Zainab is wearing a face mask. Zainab is annoyed that she was not ready for Ayesha's visit as she is three weeks early. Ayesha then overhears Zainab telling her son Tamwar Masood that he would be better for her than her suitor, Rashid. Zainab tries to get Ayesha and Tamwar together and she thinks it has worked at her New Year's Eve party, but Tamwar is just looking after Ayesha because she is sick after AJ Ahmed spiked the punch.
Ayesha then meets Rashid, and thinks he is 'all right'. However, she soon develops a crush on Masood Ahmed, which he discovers and does not tell Zainab. He urges her to try with Rashid and she does meet him again. She thinks Rashid is not right for her and it is clear that she still wants Masood. She lies to Zainab that she is still seeing Rashid, while telling Masood that she loves him. He rejects her advances and she later confesses her love of Masood to Zainab, saying that he feels the same, and then she leaves Walford.
After Masood and Zainab break up and Zainab moves to Pakistan, Ayesha returns for Masood. She ruins his date with Carol Jackson and the next day they kiss. Masood attempts to move away with Ayesha but in the end he rejects her and she leaves alone. Tamwar sees she is back and thinks that she is the reason Zainab left.
List of appearances[]
Note: ⏱ denotes an hour-long episode.
2012[]
Appeared in 4/206 episodes
2013[]
Appeared in 21/212 episodes