Michelle Hardwick “really missed” her ‘Emmerdale’ alter ego.
Michelle Hardwick is glad to be back at work
The 45-year-old actress - who portrays Vanessa Woodfield on the ITV soap – took a break from the show last year after she and wife Kate Brooks welcomed their son Teddy into the world and although she’s been off screen for over a year, Michelle insisted it was “easy” to get back into character when she returned to work.
When asked whether she’s missed her character – who left the village in October 2020 after struggling to come to terms with her bowel cancer diagnosis - Michelle said: “Yeah, she’s been with me for nine years now, so I really missed her. But as soon as I got back and put on the yellow coat and my hair in a pony, it was easy to hear her voice again.
“It’s great to get into the swing of things again.”
And Michelle admitted it didn’t feel like she’d been away for long when she went back for the first time.
She told Inside Soap magazine: “When I first walked back on to set, it was as though I’d only had two weeks off!
“Everything was exactly the same, and I was dead excited to be back. Though I was very nervous, I must admit. You think ‘Can I still do it? Can I still learn my lines with a one year old?’ But so far, so good!”
Michelle’s return to the show comes shortly before her co-star, Amy Walsh (Tracy Metcalfe) goes on maternity leave and the actress has loved having someone to talk “non-stop” about babies with.
She said: “All we do on set is talk about babies! I’m sure everyone is really sick of us. I’m not even joking when I say we talk non-stop about it. It’s just really, really exciting. There was me and Laura Norton [who plays Kerry], and now Amy. It’s brilliant.”