emmerdale cast news 2012

Plus Natalie J Robb on steamy scenes between Moira and toyboy Alex, and new EastEnders spoilers & clip!

We’ll begin today’s soapy news round up in Coronation Street, where Jack P Shepherd – who plays David Platt – has revealed that he once made his co-star Michelle Keegan laugh so hard, she pee’d herself!

Speaking to Heat magazine – and when, somewhat bizarrely – he was asked if he’d ever wet his pants as an adult, Jack replied, “No, but I did make Michelle Keegan p*ss herself…

“We were doing a scene in the kebab shop, and she laughed so much.

“It wasn’t just a bit of a wee – she had to go and change her jeans, knickers, socks and trainers, the lot.”

However, also during the interview, Jack was asked to rate his own attractiveness, to which he replied, “About a five. My rat features bring me down. I’ve got a stupid little rat face and a pig nose and bent fingers.

“Actually, I’m not even a five, I’m more of a three. Yeah, I’ve got rabbit teeth too.”

Aww bless him! He’s way too harsh on himself! However, someone who doesn’t have any self esteem issues is Emmerdale farm worker Alex Cross… Continue reading »

Plus, Ken Barlow’s former mistress Wendy Crozier headed back to the Street, and Chelsea Halfpenny on Amy’s fight scenes

We’ll start today’s look at soapy news with former EastEnders star Barbara Windsor, who reckons that if she ever went back to the soap – which she hasn’t ruled out – she’d expect the younger members of the cast to behave better than they apparently do now!

Branding the soap’s younger cast members as “undisciplined” and “mobile phone obsessed” Barbara told the Daily Mirror that the show’s bosses should discipline cast members who are late or distracted on set.

While discussing her return to the show in 2005, Barbara said, “Everybody was late or everybody was talking on their mobiles.

“I don’t like that but the governors are not so strict now. It’s a generational thing. It was difficult.

“It was not their fault as it starts at the top. If they are not taught it then it is not there.

“A lot of the young stars have not had to work their way up.

“If you are on EastEnders, you can go into Tesco and everybody knows you. I used to tell them off.”

Barbara also revealed that while she was still on the show, she fell out with Jessie Wallace, who of course plays Kat Moon, for her accusing her poor timekeeping… Continue reading »

Plus, Emmerdale’s Steve is glad Zak’s no longer a violent man, and Corrie’s Brooke Vincent says Sophie won’t go straight!

We’ll begin today’s round up of soapy news with the report in today’s Daily Mail that Jacqueline Jossa’s father has been sentenced to four years in prison for the theft of half a million pounds.

Jacqueline, who of course plays Lauren Branning, reportedly wept as she sat in court to hear her dad John plead guilty to three offences of dishonesty or tampering with expenses during his time as head of finance at Enfield Council.

The paper reports that 58-year-old John “siphoned off” £491,088.35 into his own bank account between 2006 and 2010, £42,000 of which was in false wage payments to his wife, who he pretended worked at the council.

However, he lost most of the money to scams, and only £25,000 was recovered when Enfield Council launched legal proceedings against him.

Judge Nicholas Cooke at the Old Bailey told John that he had, “embarrassed the vast majority of hard working…government employees” with his “criminally distorted thinking.”

Judge Cooke added, “In addition to being fully dishonest, he’s a fool… Your offending will have real consequences to local residents in terms of reduced services or a decline in payments for those that live in the area.”

Moving on to Emmerdale news now, and Steve Halliwell has revealed that he’s glad that his character, Zak Dingle, is no longer the violent man he was before he had his breakdown… Continue reading »

Plus Chelsea Halfpenny says “there’s a lot more” to Amy than we’ve seen yet, and see spoiler clip of EastEnders’ AJ and Mas getting into trouble!

We’ll start today’s soapy news round up over on Coronation Street, where Chris Gascoyne has told Inside Soap that he’s looking forward to his forthcoming break from the show, primarily because his character’s life is so chuffin’ miserable!

Chris of course plays bookie and pro-boozer Peter Barlow, and really, not much goes right for Peter, ever. He broke up his marriage to Leanne to be with Carla, but his son Simon hated Carla so much, Peter ended up sacrificing custody of the boy to make his son happy…

But in upcoming storylines, it’s all going to get too much for Peter, and he once again seeks answers at the bottom of vodka bottles – or wine, or beer, or toilet duck – only to find there are none there.

However, he’ll come up with a madcap plan to smuggle Simon out of the country and make a new life abroad, but he’s set to be scuppered at the last minute… Continue reading »

Plus, Nikhil’s certain his Emmerdale baby is a boy and see EastEnders newbie David Witts in on-set video

We’ll start today’s soapy news round up over in Weatherfield, where of course, Leanne Barlow is about to reignite her relationship with restaurateur Nick Tilsley, to whom she was once married.

The pair of course also had an affair in 2010, just before Leanne was to marry Peter Barlow, but he of course found out about the affair and called the wedding off.

However, after the devastating tram crash, when Peter thought he was dying, he wed Leanne in the hospital. But they are of course now separated and Peter is with Carla.

But as mentioned, Leanne and Nick are to become an item once again, however, as Jane Danson who plays Leanne has revealed, the future is far from settled for her character.

Speaking to the Sun, Jane said of Leanne, “Well, after everything that’s happened with Simon and Peter, Leanne is just craving stability and a normal family life – and I think she sees this as an opportunity to get that.

“Nick has got his business, he’s got a secure place to live, and he loves her… Continue reading »

And EastEnders bosses say Shona McGarty isn’t leaving!

We’ll start today’s soapy news round up with Emmerdale actress Natalie Anderson – who plays Alicia Gallagher – revealing that she’s expecting a baby boy!

Natalie announced the news of her pregnancy a few weeks ago via Hello! magazine, for whom she posed for the above photo, and she revealed her son is due to be born in August…

And of how she’s preparing herself for the baby’s birth – given this is her first baby – Natalie told the Daily Star that she’s obsessively watching C4 hit show, One Born Every Minute, which of course follows the stories of women in labour.

She said, “We found out a little while ago that we’re having a boy but we haven’t come up with any names yet. We want to wait and see what he looks like [first].

“I’ve been watching One Born Every Minute. I’m obsessed with it, but it’s really starting to freak me out.”

But when asked how Alicia will be written out of the soap while Natalie’s on her maternity leave, she wouldn’t say, stating only, “I’m really pleased with the exit they’ve come up with in Emmerdale. All I can say is that it involves David.”

Over to Coronation Street now, where tonight, Eileen Grimshaw and Paul Kershaw are set to face the harrowing death of Paul’s wife Lesley.

As we’ve seen in this week’s episodes, Lesley has once again been staying at Eileen’s after she wandered off from the care home she was in. But the arrangement has all been too much for Eileen – especially as her longed for holiday had to be cancelled – and she told Paul she wanted to break up with him.

However, he shocked her by telling her that he intends taking Lesley back to the care home, then getting a divorce from her so that he and Eileen can begin a new life together as a married couple.

But fate is set to step in wearing hob nailed boots tonight when, having forced Eileen to flee her house when she turns violent, Lesley collapses and dies in Eileen’s house…

Inevitably, after the events of the week, and as a confused Lesley had called the police to falsely accuse Eileen of hurting her, suspicion about Lesley’s demise immediately focuses on Eileen.

And what’s worse for Eileen is that even Paul seems to doubt her word that she wasn’t in the house when Lesley met her death.

Don’t miss that drama starting tonight!

Finally today it’s over to EastEnders, where within minutes of my publishing this article, Digital Spy reported that the show’s bosses have denied that Shona McGarty is leaving the soap.

A spokesman for the show told DS, “There is absolutely no truth in the report that Shona has quit EastEnders.

“Shona is a great singer and this is perhaps something that she would like to pursue in the future.

“However, she is really happy at EastEnders and has no plans to leave the show.”

Hmmm… well, we’ll keep you posted on how that pans out.

More soapy news soon!

And Gemma Oaten on “brilliant” year at Emmerdale

There’s a worrying time ahead for the Dingle clan, because not only do they believe Zak is dying of cancer, in upcoming episodes, he’s going to go missing, prompting fears that he may have committed suicide.

However, the truth is of course that Zak isn’t dying, but he is suffering from mental illness, and it’s all about to reach a terrible climax when a confused and disorientated Zak gets lost on the bleak Yorkshire moors.

Here’s a preview of tomorrow night’s show when Zak goes missing…

In other news, as fans of the show will know, Megan Macey is about to meet the son she gave up for adoption when he was a baby…

And on the show’s official website today is a link to her son Robbie Lawson’s Facebook page, which you can visit by clicking here.

As part of the broadcasters plan to make the show as interactive as possible, several of the show’s characters have their own Facebook pages which are updated with photos and news of what they’re up to on a regular basis.

Click here to have a look at a few of them.

But getting back to Robbie, we, and his mum, will meet him in the episode that airs on 17th May, when, after he gets a letter from Megan, Robbie turns up at Home Farm…

However it quickly becomes apparent that he’s an angry young man, and he demands to know why his mother gave him away, and who his father is.

The whole first meeting ends in confrontation, with Robbie telling Megan to stay out of his life for good, and Megan in turn telling Declan to drop the whole thing and stop interfering in her life.

But Declan’s not about to give up on it just yet! Keep an eye on Robbie’s Facebook page for hints as to what’s to come.

Finally today, Gemma Oaten, who plays fiery Rachel Breckle, has been telling the PA that her first year on the show has been “brilliant”.

She also revealed that the cast made her feel welcome as soon as she arrived on the set of the show.

She said, “From the first day I walked in they started taking the mickey out of my accent and putting me down, messing my hair up, getting me in headlocks.

“They just completely brought me into their family. It’s been brilliant.”

However, it seems things for her character are about to go somewhat downhill!

Gemma said, “There’s big stuff coming up but it’s not happy stuff. The thing I love about Rachel is she’s such a mix – I get the scenes that are just hilarious, the stuff she comes out with…

“But I’m also getting to show the sensitive side and there’s some really gritty stuff coming up.”

And of the chances of Rachel getting a love life any time soon, Gemma said, “Everyone talks about romance between Marlon (Dingle) and Rachel, they’re lovely together.

“I’d like to do some more stuff with James Hooton who plays Sam (Dingle), but at the moment I know she’s starting to take a little interest in David (Metcalfe, played by Matthew Wolfenden).

“But that’s possibly not going to go her way.”

Not much does, bless her!

More Emmerdale news soon.

Plus, will Ian Beale tell the police about Ben’s confession?

We’ll begin today’s soapy news on Coronation Street, where it’s been reported that several of the show’s stars are off to Kenya to film a special documentary about some of the many devastating problems that are endemic in the region.

To be entitled, Corrie Goes to Kenya, we’ll see the show’s stars explaining that an estimated 1.5million people in Kenya are living with HIV, and almost as many children have been left orphaned by the country’s AIDS epidemic.

But as well as covering those issues, the stars will also investigate drug abuse in the area, and the hideous practice of female circumcision.

A show insider told the Daily Star, “There are many of them who do a lot for charity because they see it as their way of giving back.

“They know that their celebrity status helps put the spotlight on important issues.

“It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a chance to highlight the struggles of real people.”

The two-part documentary is scheduled to be aired later this year.

Over to Yorkshire now where Fiona Wade has signed a new contract with Emmerdale to stay on the show in the role of spoiled brat Priya Sharma.

Of her new deal, Fiona said, “I’ve just signed a one-year contract, which I’m absolutely delighted about.

“It means they can plan lots of things for me, which is very exciting. There’s lots more coming up involving her brothers which I’m really looking forward to.

“That’s the thing about Priya. She lives her life exactly how she wants and is a bit of a whirlwind for them. They can’t control what she does and she’s incredibly feisty.

“She had that thing with Cain Dingle the last time she was in the village, which really didn’t go down too well with her brothers.”

And talking of things not going down to well, that’s actually something of an understatement when Ben Mitchell confesses to his brother Ian Beale that he murdered Heather Trott.

The dramatic confession airs on EastEnders next week, and though Ben tries to convince Ian that killing Heather was an accident, Ian’s not so sure it was, and so he faces a terrible dilemma; that is, whether to tell the police that Ben killed poor Hev.

Fans will recall that when Ben told Ian he’d lied about his dad Phil’s involvement with Stella Crawford’s death, Ian went straight to the police to tell them about Ben’s fabricated statement, and soon after, the cops has to release Phil from custody…

But of course, Ben thought it was Heather who’d grassed him up, and that’s how come he stormed round to her place in a furious rage in the first place, and why he ended up killing her.

Don’t miss the show all next week, and especially on Thursday and Friday when Ian makes a decision that will change the lives of those closest to him forever!

More soapy news soon.

We’ll start today’s soapy news round up with EastEnders star Nina Wadia, who’s told the PA that in playing feisty Zainab Masood, she manages to use her character to get rid of her own stress.

She said, “It’s great because I don’t take things out on my real husband, I take it out on the fake husbands instead.

“It’s quite therapeutic as far as I’m concerned.”

However, despite enjoying letting off steam during Zainab’s screaming fits, Nina would like to see her character having some happier times this year, having had the trauma of Yusef Khan’s abuse last year, and the horror of dealing with the B&B fire in which her son Tamwar was badly burned.

Nina said, “I think she needs to move on and be happy again, that would be a bit of fun, but who knows what the year holds.”

In Emmerdale news, Jeff Hordley, who plays bad lad Cain Dingle, has revealed that despite his recent good deeds – in saving Holly Barton when she OD’d and rescuing his dad Zak next week when he gets lost on the moors – we’ll soon see Cain back to his villainous ways.

Speaking to Soaplife, Jeff said, “Well, he’s had very little to do with his dad since it was revealed that Zak beat him up.

“The first time Cain realises Zak has gone a bit bonkers is when he finds him on the moors.

“He wasn’t going to look for Zak at all when he went missing, but his conscience gets the better of him, especially after he hears through Gennie that Zak has cancer.

And of Cain discovering Zak, confused and hallucinating on the moors, Jeff said, “It’s only when it becomes clear Zak has gone bonkers that Cain shows the littlest bit of compassion in trying to coax him away from the edge to safety.”

And when asked if Cain will realize that Zak’s mental health problems could have been the reason he nearly beat Cain to death, Jeff said, “Not at this stage. He doesn’t see it like that. As it plays out, it may well occur to Cain that that’s when Zak’s mental problems started.

“But, looking at the bigger picture, I don’t think it’s just that incident that caused it.

“There was Lisa being raped and money problems and all the rest of it, too. It’s not just Cain’s fault.”

Finally, Jeff said, “He’s gone into his shell a bit because of everything that’s happened to him over the last year, but I’m sure he’ll come out of it and start doing nasty things again.

“I hope so anyway, because it’s fun playing a bad lad. But it’s also good playing a softer, gentler side – that’s probably a bit more like me.”

Finally, it’s over to Corrie where Max George has tweeted a hint that his engagement to Michelle Keegan is back on.

He wrote, “She’s awesome. We’re perfect and she’s perfect. It’s been amazing to see her since we’ve come back. We’re brilliant.”

Max told listeners of an American radio station last month that he and Michelle had called off their engagement but were still in a relationship.

More soapy news soon!

Plus, see new timeslots for soaps including one-off Emmerdale on Sunday, May 13

Emmerdale star Natalie J Robb has had to spend a lot of time in tears of late as her alter ego Moira Barton, because of course, she became a widow, her daughter OD’d on heroin and her son set fire to the garage and Cain Dingle!

Added to that, she’s up to her eyes in financial troubles, so it’s not too surprising that Natalie has told the PA she’d quite like her character to be happy for a while now.

She said, “I’ve done my bit of crying now. I’ve cried a lot for John. It would be nice to have some happy times for Moira – it’s nice to be happy!”

Well, she may get her wish given that the show’s series producer, Stuart Blackburn, has hinted that there are cheerier times ahead for Moira, but he added that she will “behave inappropriately” in upcoming plots.

Of that, Natalie said she has no idea what he means. She said, “Who knows. They don’t tell me anything.

“And actually, the things that they come up with I don’t want to know. I just read the page and go and do it.”

While that’s doubtless a workable ethos, Natalie’s co-star Kelli Hollis has revealed that she was surprised at how difficult it can be to get help if you have literacy problems.

Kelli of course plays Ali Spencer in Emmerdale, who has recently admitted that she can’t read or write.

While on Lorraine Kelly’s morning show, Kelli said, “I was really surprised, actually…

“I did a little bit of research and made a few phone call enquiries and I was actually a little bit disappointed, because I was making these calls and getting referred to websites.

“I didn’t say who I was, I just said, ‘I’m looking for some courses’.

“I was getting sent in all different directions and referred to websites and somebody actually said, ‘I can send you some leaflets’.

“I had to say, ‘I won’t be able to read the leaflets if they come’. So I was a little bit disappointed.”

However, Kelli added that she hopes the current generation of young people are receiving more support than Ali would have done when she was at school.

She said, “These days with mobile phones and computers, if a kid is struggling with their reading and writing, hopefully that will be picked up on a little bit sooner.”

Well, I have to agree with Kelli there, but it constantly amazes me how poor written English skills are these days. It’s all rather more about the very irritating text speak. No wot I meen?

Finally today, it’s been announced that Emmerdale will air an episode on Sunday, May 13 at 7.30pm, and that all the top three soaps have altered timeslots that week to make way for BGT.

Here’s the low down on the new times…

Monday, May 7

7.00pm: Emmerdale

7.30pm: EastEnders

9.00pm: Coronation Street

Tuesday, May 8

7.00pm: Emmerdale

7.30pm: EastEnders

9.00pm: Coronation Street

Wednesday, May 9

7.00pm: Emmerdale

9.00pm: Coronation Street

Thursday, May 10

7.00pm: Emmerdale

7.30pm: EastEnders

9.00pm: Coronation Street

Friday, May 11

7.00pm: Emmerdale

7.30pm: Coronation Street

8.00pm: EastEnders

8.30pm: Coronation Street

More Emmerdale news soon!