Emmerdale star reveals how she could return to soap 20 years after Tricia Dingle death
Emmerdale's Tricia Dingle was killed off in 2004 after being crushed in a storm, but actress Sheree Murphy has now put forward an idea which could allow her to return to the soap
Emmerdale star Sheree Murphy has hinted at a possible return to the soap after 20 years.
In 2004, her character Tricia Dingle was abruptly killed off during a storm after she was crushed by debris. The actress, 48, played the Woolpack barmaid for six years and shared a close friendship with on-screen husband Mark Charnock.
Sheree, who still gets recognised by fans, said she’s thought about how she could make a comeback after her exit left her “gutted”. The I’m A Celebrity star recalled being offered a new contract but decided to take some time out due to personal reasons.
This included giving birth to her second child and dealing with her father’s sudden death. Despite believing producers were satisfied with her break, they decided to kill off Tricia instead, leaving no room for her return.
“I feel like I just needed a bit of time to myself because my dad died suddenly,” Sheree told The Express. “I remember I was telling the producer that I couldn’t be there at the minute and he said, ‘Oh we’ve got this really good storyline, we were actually going to kill about five people off, but I think we’ll save it for you’.”
Sheree was shocked when she discovered her character was being written out of the soap, adding: “I was like, ‘Oh’, I was gutted, I didn’t know what to say because I thought, I’m grateful. I suppose when you leave a soap it’s good to go out on a big high, but I was gutted.”
The mum-of-four admitted that at the time, with so much going on in her life, she didn’t think to fight for her role as Tricia. Now she regrets it, confessing: “I should’ve really fought and said, ‘No I’ll come back’ because I loved playing Tricia so much.”
She went on: “But, I didn’t and then I was b****y killed off so there was no going back.” However, loyal soap fans will know that if a character is killed off, particularly off-screen, there’s every chance they could return.
Sheree admitted she wasn’t too sure on the idea of bringing Tricia back after her tragic death. Instead, she’s got another trick up her sleeve.
The former soap star said: “But with Mark Charnock, we always used to say, ‘Can’t they write in Tricia’s evil twin?’ Nobody knew she had a twin and then she just turns up in the village looking for her grandad who died years ago or a sister, I don’t know something.”
“And then everyone thinks it’s Tricia, but it’s not it’s her evil twin sister. You never know, do you? Something like that. Stupider things have happened in soaps haven’t they. I loved playing that character.”