Exclusive: Emmerdale GP, 49, looks stunning in empowering bikini photo amid shocking blackmail horror
Emmerdale star Rebecca Sarker's character Manpreet Sharma has found herself embroiled in a nasty blackmail plot after posting sexy images online. But for Rebecca, her real-life experiences of showing off her body have been much more empowering
Posing for scantily-clad pictures on a subscription only website is Rebecca Sarker’s raciest storyline since joining Emmerdale as village doctor Manpreet Sharma five years ago.
Rather than condemning her character’s lapse of judgement, Rebecca has every sympathy for her plight – understanding only too well how easy it is to be flattered by online compliments from strangers. Manpreet becomes the victim of a shocking blackmail plot, after some of her online followers like her photos and suggest she joins a subscription site.
“They tell her it would be perfect for her and she takes the bait,” Rebecca explains. “She starts disrobing and posts some pictures of herself scantily clad. It’s a little bit of titillation; she feels a bit cheeky, a bit naughty and a bit risqué.
Glamorous Rebecca’s Instagram page features several pictures of herself playing sport and on holiday in swimwear (
instagram.com/rebeccasarker)
“She’s had her relationship issues. She’s lonely and her confidence is at rock bottom. She keeps getting ‘likes’ and it does wonders for her self-esteem. I might be a little bit guilty of that as well. Sometimes I’m on Instagram and you do get a little bit of a boost if someone likes your posts.
“I was never on Instagram before this job and I thought I would never use it. But I’m not going to lie, there is a certain buzz about it. It’s hard not to feel good when people say nice things. And that’s basically what Manpreet is getting. She’s getting a little confidence boost.”
Glamorous Rebecca’s Instagram page features several pictures of herself playing sport and on holiday in swimwear, showing her toned and fit, achieved through regular visits to the gym.
Rebecca feels strongly that her pictures send out a positive message, particularly to her female followers
The soap actor likes to keep in shape through exercise
She laughs: “I’m always posting pictures of myself in bikinis! My children laugh about it and my youngest said to me, ‘one of the teachers at school is following you.’ I joked, ‘yes, quite right!’
“I would never put my family up there, but I don’t mind doing it. I’m not backwards at coming forwards. I’m confident in myself physically and they’re always very tasteful. I’m always on a beach with a beautiful backdrop, so it’s fine.”
At 49, Rebecca also feels strongly that her pictures send out a positive message, particularly to her female followers. “I think what’s good is that the pictures are very natural, so if there are folds of skin then so be it,” she explains.
‘I’m flying the flag for women who are a bit more mature’ she says
Rebecca Sarker attends the TV Choice Awards 2025 (
Getty Images)“I’m flying the flag for women who are a bit more mature. Just because we get to a certain age, it doesn’t mean we wrap up and don’t show ourselves off at all. If you want to and you feel like you can, then go for it.
“I’m quite confident. And people are often very kind and complimentary. They say, ‘good for you, why not?’ or ‘it’s nice to see someone being natural.’”
Sadly, things do not pan out so well for Manpreet, who having gone much further with her posts, finds herself being blackmailed over the shots.
“One of the pictures comes to the surgery in an envelope and it’s Manpreet on a bed in a slightly coy position,” Rebecca explains. “She then gets these sinister text messages saying ‘we know what you’re doing. We know your dirty secret. Don’t go to the police or everybody will find out what you’ve been doing.’
“Just because we get to a certain age, it doesn’t mean we wrap up and don’t show ourselves off at all,” says Rebecca
Rebecca says she is proud of her body (
Rebecca Sarker/Instagram)
“A real panic ensues, where she goes, ‘oh my God, who is doing this? Why are they doing this? I’ve been so foolish. How have I ended up in this position?’ It’s really very traumatic for her.
“It started off as something that was so empowering and now somebody’s got this hold over her and she’s absolutely powerless.”
It’s not long before Manpreet starts to fear that her recklessness could end her medical career. Rebecca says: “I know that there have been cases like this with professional people – law and medical students, even doctors.
“It’s that separation issue. Can you separate the professional and the personal? You could argue that you should be able to, but it’s never that black and white. People have standards to uphold and professions they can’t bring into disrepute. So, it’s gone a little bit too far for her.”
Rebecca plays village doctor Manpreet Sharma in Emmerdale
Yorkshire-born Rebecca joined Emmerdale in 2018, but the part of the quirky doctor is not her first soap. She played a doctor in two episodes of EastEnders in 2007, but is best-remembered for her role as Nita Desai, part of Coronation Street’s first Asian family in 1999.
Rebecca was only 23 at the time and it was her first-ever TV role. “It was fantastic and I learnt a lot, but I was very young and it was hard to cope with the instant recognition,” she recalls.
“People assume that actors are all extroverts. I wouldn’t say I’m shy and retiring, but I’m not doing it for fame, I do it because I love it. The recognition is a spin off from the job. It’s great, but it’s quite a shock when you’re very young. It’s difficult to cope with.”
Rebecca grew up in Halifax, West Yorkshire, with her father Khaleque, a GP, and her mother Elizabeth, a nurse. Her older brother is a dentist, but Rebecca says there was never any pressure from her parents to go down the medical route herself.
“They knew that was a non-starter,” she smiles. “My strengths lay elsewhere. I studied French and Spanish at university and they were happy for me to just carry on blissfully unaware of what I might do.
“But I did become a doctor in the end when I got the part of Manpreet – my dad’s very pleased about that!”
Although she has enjoyed a career spanning a quarter of a century, she had no aspiration to act and credits her older brother with giving her the push to apply for drama school.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” she says. “And when I graduated, I was directionless. It was my brother who suggested I audition for drama schools. I’d done some amateur dramatics, but didn’t think that was something I could do professionally, then he said ‘just try, what have you got to lose?’
“He gave me the push I needed and I’m very grateful. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”
Still close, she stays with her brother in Halifax when she’s filming Emmerdale – returning at weekends to the Essex home she shares with her husband and their two teenage sons.
When she’s not at work, Rebecca loves to keep fit and regularly goes cycling and to the gym. She was able to show off her sporty side to full effect when she took part in ITV’s The Games in 2022. The realityTV series saw ten celebrities competing in nine Olympic style events, such as weight-lifting, gymnastics and diving.
Rebecca says: “I’m not a huge reality TV person; I don’t necessarily naturally warm to the reality format, so it was quite different and a bit of a shock. For me,it was about learning nine disciplines of sport. I didn’t worry about all the other stuff and the silly narratives that people can spin sometimes. I’m not going to give you a sob story to get people on my side if I haven’t got one. But it was a great experience and I’m really glad that I did it.”
For now, all Rebecca’s attention is on her Emmerdale job. Although she admits that five years in, she’s still catching up on the medical front, despite all the experts in her family.
“My very first scene as Manpreet was doing a Well Man check,” she recalls. “I got the scripts and I was slightly panicky and wanting to make a good impression.
“The script said I had to take someone’s blood pressure, so I said to my parents, ‘can you let me know how to do that before I start filming?’ I was prepped. But, unfortunately I’ve since forgotten it!”
*Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV and ITV X with an hour-long episode on Thursdays
