Emmerdale General News Thread

[Bryan]

A news thread for all general peices of news regarding the show and the cast. I.e Digitial Spy news reports etc.

For big news stories, please feel free to set up a thread of it's own.

[Perdita]

Former Emmerdale star Ben Freeman has reportedly begun dating ex-Hollyoaks actress Jennifer Biddall.

The actor, who played mechanic Scott Windsor in the ITV1 soap, is thought to have fallen for Biddall (Jessica Harris) while co-starring with her in the stage show Dreamboats And Petticoats.

Speaking to the Daily Star, an unnamed source said: "He’s head over heels for her and she’s pretty smitten with him. It’s early days yet but the signs are definitely good."

Freeman was dropped by Emmerdale after being charged with rape in Barbados but recently admitted that he was keen to return to the programme after being cleared of the charge last year.

[Perdita]

Emmerdale star Maxwell Caulfield has admitted that he often feels genuine sadness over his soap plots.

The actor confirmed that he regularly considers his real-life emotional experiences when filming scenes as Mark Wylde on the ITV1 show.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Caulfield explained: "This show makes me [cry] bi-weekly. Mark is being put through the mangle. I get genuinely sad sometimes.

"There's more sadness in your life as you get older as more people have passed away and as more pets are cremated and buried at the end of the garden, so there's more to draw on."

Caulfield joined Emmerdale in September last year and his first scenes were screened in January.

Asked about his experiences with fellow cast members, he joked: "I hate them all. Ha ha. No, we're a harmonious and hardworking group, bound by the challenge of cranking out five shows a week. But what I like about this show is that if you get a good storyline, you really get a good storyline."

Caulfield recently revealed that he has fallen in love with the Yorkshire countryside since signing up for the programme.

[Perdita]

Emmerdale star Lucy Pargeter has revealed that she is planning to have a second boob job this year.

The 31-year-old actress, who plays Chas Dingle on the ITV1 soap, first went under the knife for breast enhancement surgery eleven years ago.

Speaking to The People, Pargeter admitted: "I don't think I will ever be satisfied with my body. I'll always be able to find something else I don't like. I'm just not completely happy with the way I look.

"My boobs are being done again in August. I'm going a little bit bigger. They were done a long time ago now so I think, just as you change your tyres on a car, you kind of need to change your implants.

"My surgeon told me I don't really need my boobs to go bigger. After the first op I thought, 'Jeepers they're big', but then they go down. I'm a double D now so I'm going up a third again. I'll be the same but a bit fuller."

Pargeter joined the Yorkshire-based programme in 2002 and added that she has no plans to quit her role.

"I love my character because I get to go to work and do everything I sometimes want to do in my own life - I really get to mouth off," she explained. "I get a good reaction from the public because Chas has good intentions.

"I'm quite happy to stay on the show until the day they are unhappy with me or I get bored. But I am happy being based in Leeds, I feel settled."

Pargeter was nominated for sexiest female at the British Soap Awards this year, but lost out to Coronation Street's Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre) at the ceremony.

[Perdita]

Ex-Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett has unexpectedly pulled out of her British Shakespeare Company performances just days before the opening night.

Earlier this year, the 26-year-old, who played the role of Jo Sugden in ITV's rural soap for three years before bowing out in December, had signed to appear as Hero in Much Ado About Nothing and Cobweb in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Earlier this year, Pallett appeared in ITV skating show Dancing on Ice alongside professional skater Daniel Whiston and was the eighth contestant to be voted off. She subsequently agreed to join her fellow contestants for the annual Ice tour. Rehearsals for her Shakespeare commitment were due to begin almost immediately afterwards.

However, despite the Ice tour finishing at the beginning of last month, her agent yesterday released a statement indicating that the actress's commitment to the roadshow had eaten into her Shakespeare rehearsal time and she had therefore taken the decision to pull out.

She was expected to make her debut on stage in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Rose Theatre in Kingston on Friday.

Pallett's representative told a local Gloucestershire newspaper: "Due to the Dancing on Ice tour running into the rehearsal period for the British Shakespeare Company, Roxanne Pallett has had to bow out of the project but wishes the company a fantastic run as she now looks towards forthcoming roles."

A spokesperson for the British Shakespeare Company this afternoon told DS: "We were informed earlier this week that Roxanne had decided to pull out of the show. She couldn't catch up with the rehearsals that she had lost due to the Dancing on Ice tour."

Pallett has been replaced by actress Claire McGarahan.

She needs to make her mind up what she commits herself to, else she gets herself a reputation and nobody will entertain her after a while.

[Perdita]

Emmerdale star Amanda Donohoe has claimed that viewers support her character Natasha Wylde.

Fans of the ITV1 soap are aware that Natasha's husband Mark (Maxwell Caulfield) is a bigamist who recently began seeing his first wife Faye Lamb (Kim Thomson) again. In next week's episodes, the businessman's secrets will be exposed at last.

Donohoe has now confirmed that she has experienced a positive response from the public since the storyline began earlier this year.

Speaking to the Daily Record, the 46-year-old actress explained: "I've made a point of never playing Natasha as an out-and-out bitch, an over-the-top baddie, so people will be concerned for her and won't just laugh at her misfortune.

"I've already had people saying: 'Watch out, your husband is up to no good', so I think the public are on my side. I may even get the odd hug, kiss and glance of sympathy when next week's bombshells hit the screen."

Asked if she can relate to her character's troubles, she revealed: "I've suffered this myself. You are told something, go about your life contentedly, and then discover that the reality of a situation is somewhat different to how it was presented. It's disappointing and undermining."

Donohoe announced that she had signed up for Emmerdale in September 2008. She appeared on screen for the first time in January.

I wish the character was played by a different actress, Amanda is sooo wooden and unbeleavable.

[Perdita]

Scouting For Girls will guest star on Emmerdale soon, according to the band's drummer Pete Ellard.

Ellard, who is a fan of the serial, has plotted a cameo appearance for the last few months.

He told Holy Soap: "We've realised if you say it enough things will happen. I think if we keep saying yes we will be on Emmerdale very, very soon."

Frontman Roy Stride added jestfully: "I think we need to graduate to a speaking role. I think maybe [we'd be] an extra.

"Maybe first of all we could be walking through the field, like a hiker in the background or a shepherd, then we'd have to be in the Woolpack."

[Perdita]

Emmerdale' bosses want to replace Aaron's dead dog with a poodle.

Last week, a devastated Aaron (Danny Miller) broke down when his beloved Alsatian Clyde was savaged in a revenge attack as part of his ongoing feud with thug Mickey (Lee Oakes), but producers of the ITV1 show have come up with a way to help him cope.

Series producer Gavin Blythe joked: "I keep telling him I'm going to get him a poodle, which Danny doesn't really side the funny side of and I don't understand why."

However, Danny - who plays the gay teen in the soap - doesn't think Aaron will ever be ready to replace Clyde, who had to be put down because of his injuries.

He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I don't think he will get a new dog. I don't think he'll want to replace him, Clyde was a big part of his life. I know he was only a dog but I don't think it will be very easy for him just to replace him. I don't think there are any plans to get a new dog any time soon."

Hot-headed Aaron has previously admitted he has intimacy issues after a tough childhood, and Danny thinks Clyde provided "unconditional love" for the troubled mechanic.

He explained: "It's like it's his best mate, it's like he's actually in love with a dog because he's the only person he can really sort of care for. It's unconditional love, he doesn't talk back to him and I think Aaron loved being in control of the dog, in control of something in his life. They were like best mates.

[Perdita]

Emmerdale star Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi promoted the benefits of a vegan lifestyle yesterday by wearing an eye-catching gown made entirely of lettuce leaves.

Standing outside the Leeds Corn Exchange, the actress showed off the unusual dress as she posed for cameras in an attempt to encourage more people to go vegan.

Rokhsaneh - who plays Leyla Harding in the Yorkshire soap - was representing People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on the eve of World Vegetarian Day, which takes place today.

PETA members were also in attendance to raise awareness of the cause, handing out vegan sausages to passers-by.

In a statement, Rokhsaneh said: "I went vegan six years ago - out of concern for my health and also a hatred of animal cruelty - and I haven't looked back!

"I saw an immediate improvement in my skin, my waistline is trimmer, and I can enjoy delicious vegan food knowing that I'm in no way contributing to the suffering and death of animals."

[Perdita]

X Factor winner Joe McElderry paid a visit to the Emmerdale studios yesterday while on the road promoting his new single 'Ambitions'.

The 19-year-old bagged a tour of the Yorkshire soap after being interviewed at Radio Aire's base in Leeds, which is next door to Emmerdale's interior sets.

Afterwards, McElderry told his Twitter followers: "I had a look around the Emmerdale set this morning and sat in the woolpack!! Haha."

Danny Miller - who plays Aaron Livesy on the ITV1 show - was among the cast members who Joe met during his brief visit.

Writing to McElderry on Twitter, Miller said later: "Lovely to have met you today dude! Keep in touch! Hope you enjoyed your tour x".

Joe's fellow X Factor champion Alexandra Burke also toured the Emmerdale set earlier this year.