Emmerdale's Zoe Henry's horrific rape scenes left her covered in bruises.

Zoe Henry

Zoe Henry

Viewers were left heartbroken during last night's (24.04.17) episode when manipulative lawyer Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather) forced himself onto his new wife Rhona Goskirk (Zoe) just hours after they tied the knot in front of their friends and family.

And, although the horrific scenes were well-rehearsed before they were captured on camera, Jonathan has admitted he accidentally injured his co-star during the scuffle.

Speaking on 'Lorraine' on Tuesday (25.04.17), he explained: "They were difficult to do, luckily we get an element of rehearsal on those ones. It was great to work with a fight director so all that thing had to be choreographed. You couldn't just turn up on set and go: 'Hi, crew and just work this one out.' It was very hard-hitting - I've not seen it screen but I remember doing it - we shot it in chronology so it's very much up here but most of it was very much implied. You don't see a lot, but in a sense it makes it more powerful!

"Zoe will say that she did get one or two bruises along the way. We were fully committed to it, we had to be, we wanted to make it as truthful as possible!"

Although the storyline is disturbing for the cast and crew to watch, Jonathan has admitted he jumped at the chance to take it on because it's happening in real life often.

He said: "Pierce is seemingly this kind of sorted, charming, well-adjusted individual but behind closed doors he is perturbed and disturbed. It's happening all too often, we work with a number of groups - Women's Aid and various crisis groups - to make sure we get it right. The facts and statistics are pretty shocking and not nice at all."


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