Emmerdale legend confirms ‘huge journey’ for Charity this year as she reveals what’s to come

Charity Dingle has had a busy year so far in Emmerdale, but she shows no signs of slowing down, as actress Emma Atkins has teased.

Already this year Charity has driven a limo full of her neighbours into a lake and been a suspect in a whodunnit, after learning that son Noah Dingle (Jack Downham) had been spiked by Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).

It was the spiking that led Noah to be wandering in the middle of the road, causing Charity to swerve and the limo she was driving to go plummeting into the icy lake.

‘I was so proud to be part of it,’ Emma enthused when I chatted to her at the British Soap Awards. ‘I read the script and I was like, “This is phenomenal.”

‘When I watched it play out as well, because I wasn’t in a lot of the scenes, so I was able to be a bystander and an audience member and fully soak it up.

‘I was really moved, genuinely moved to tears with a lot of the performances, so I feel really proud to be part of that.’

The drama is set to continue to ramp up for Charity as the year continues, with Emma promising ‘a huge journey’ ahead.

‘It’s going to be huge towards the middle and end of the year, with her connections with Sarah [Sugden], basically,’ Emma teased.

‘I think she’s being the maternal figure in her life that she’s lacking at the moment because Debbie’s gone away. She’s playing that motherly role where she’s concerned about Sarah’s health.

‘Sarah, at the moment, isn’t letting her in, but there’s that crossroads where she’s like, “Do I tell Charity the truth?”

‘Then we go on a huge journey later on, which I can’t reveal yet. I’m working a lot with Katie [Hill] and she’s a phenomenal little actress, she’s just brilliant. I love her.’

In the past few weeks, Sarah has sought guidance from Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) – Charity’s ex-girlfriend.

Of course, fans everywhere are constantly wondering if Charity and Vanessa will ever reunite, and Emma thinks that this could ‘possibly’ draw them closer together.

‘I think with Vanessa being so set on her principles and morally upstanding, I think she’ll be telling Sarah that the right thing to do is trust in Charity and let her know what’s going on.

‘I’m sure there’s good stuff for me and Michelle to do as well, and I love working with Michelle, she’s so great. So I’ve got a really lovely few months coming up.’