Charlie Hardwick is "really missed" on ‘Emmerdale’.
Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick misses Charlie Hardwick on the soap
The 61-year-old actress played Val Pollard in the ITV soap from 2004 until 2017 when her character was tragically killed off, but five years on, Charlie's former co-star Michelle Hardwick - who has played Vanessa Woodfield since 2012 - has told how the 'Ackley Bridge' actress is still really popular among her former Dales co-stars.
When asked which character she would like to see back in the soap, Michelle said: “It would be Val Pollard. She was such a great character in the village and Charlie Hardwick played her wonderfully. She is really missed from the show. So if we could magic a character back from the dead, it would be her. Val was a joy to watch, and just imagine the drama she would bring.”
Michelle recently returned to the Dales after she left for maternity leave in summer 2020 to welcome her baby boy Teddy, who is now 20 months, with her wife and 'Emmerdale' producer Kate Brooks.
Before going on maternity leave, fans saw Michelle’s character Vanessa depart suddenly from the village amid her harrowing cancer struggle.
The 46-year-old actress has said the bowel cancer plot was her favourite so far because it is "so important" to raise awareness.
She added: “My favourite, for various reasons, is the bowel cancer storyline. It’s so important, and we had to get it right in order to get all the symptoms out there.
"We showed people not to be embarrassed talking about poo and going to the toilet.”
Michelle, who first found fame staring as receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in ITV drama ‘The Royal’, has also reminisced about her time on the show.
She added to Inside Soap magazine: “I adored ‘The Royal'! That’s where I met my best friend, Amy Robbins, who also played Meena’s defence lawyer. My other best memories were that during filming, we’d take a week to film the exterior scenes in Scarborough.
“We’d have a jolly by the seaside, go out for meals and do karaoke nearly every night!”
Tagged in Charlie Hardwick