'Emmerdale' bosses are set to bring a "heavily-tattooed" person to the soap.
Emmerdale cast
Bosses of the popular ITV show are looking for an "alternative person" to join the cast as they believe the edgy look will "terrify" the older members of the village - even if the mysterious new addition turns out to have "a heart of gold".
Soap boss Iain MacLeod said: "[We're looking for] some sort of heavily tattooed, body pierced, alternative person. Just because our characters are all, in their own way, ordinary, I don't imagine any of them have any intimate piercings or secret tattoos. I just want someone covered head to toe in tattoos who will terrify the older characters but turn out to have a heart of gold."
And Iain says he's looking forward to what he has planned for the soap in the future, as he teased "really funny stuff" for the villagers in the upcoming weeks.
Speaking about upcoming storylines - which are being kept under wraps to avoid spoilers - Iain hinted: "I'm a big fan of the funny stuff. Soap, for me, has always been really heart-breaking stuff mixed with classic Northern humour.
"We've got tons of really funny stuff coming up in the future. It feels like never a week goes by that there isn't some twist or surprise, or something new."
'Emmerdale' - which has been nominated for a BAFTA for Best Soap and Continuing Drama at next month's award's ceremony - has been praised for its hard hitting storylines, which most recently saw John Middleton's character Ashley Thomas lose his battle with dementia.
Iain told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I feel like we've got a really good balance of heart-breaking stories like Ashley's dementia and other stories coming up like Faith's breast cancer."
Meanwhile, John - who has played Ashley on the soap for 20 years - recently admitted filming his last scenes was an emotional experience, and revealed staff on the set were distraught as he was prepped for filming.
He said prior to his final scenes airing earlier this month: "It's going to be a tearjerker for everyone. Tears were pouring down everybody's faces while we were filming it. Someone was leaning over me to check costume and make-up and her tears were dripping on my cheek. Even the medical adviser was crying."
Tagged in John Middleton