EXCLUSIVE: Laura Norton returns to ITV Emmerdale after 18 months as she works on ‘guilty feelings’
Laura Norton is excited to return to Emmerdale but said being a mum to her two children is the best thing in the world - despite admitting it is 'incredibly hard'
Returning to Emmerdale after 18 months’ maternity leave, Laura Norton is loving getting back into character as wild woman Kerry, who returns to the village dressed as Cher, accompanied by a policeman, and claiming she has been falsely accused of theft.
Actress Laura roars with laughters as she tells how on her big day back on set she was handed hot pants, a leotard and a huge wig to mimic pop icon, Cher. Laura, 40, says: “With my character you have to expect the unexpected. My body is not what it was after having two children, but wearing a leotard and hot pants is all part of the fun. You just have to embrace it. I don’t let things like what I look like bother me any more.”
Laura with her two children (
laura_norts/Instagram)
Laura has played bolshy Kerry Wyatt on and off since 2012, and her comeback scenes will be screened next week. She says: “It’s great to be back at Emmerdale and work as an actor again.”
But while she loves her work, nothing can compare to being mum to son, Jesse, three, and daughter, Ronnie, one. She says: “Being a mum is incredibly hard at times, but it is also the best thing in the world. There is nothing better in my life than when Jesse and Ronnie say ‘Mama’. I love seeing them developing and I love watching them play together. Being a mum is so rewarding.”
But so is her work. Laura says: “It’s great Kerry is back with such a big bang, impersonating Cher, and so full of life. We had such a laugh filming it. I had this massive wig on. It was so windy I was worried it wouldn’t stay on. Thankfully, the wig did.
“It was Kerry’s eyelashes that flew off into the wind.” Laura admits she needs to “work on my mum guilty feelings” about being apart from her children.
But she says: “At the same time, I know it’s an amazing example to set to the kids showing them that I am working.” And they are never far from her thoughts, as the rest of the cast and crew on the set in Leeds know.
She says: “I have become that annoying person who says, ‘Would you like to see another picture?’ My friend laughed the other day and said, ‘That needs to stop’, but I can’t help it.”
Laura Norton with her partner Mark Jordon (
OK!/ David Longstaffe)
Being back in Emmerdale, Laura says, was “like riding a bike”. She adds: “After about a minute, you remember everything. I was worried my baby brain would make it difficult walking and talking at the same time, but it feels like I have never been away.
Smiling, she says her partner, actor Mark Jordon, 59, who she met eight years ago when he appeared in the soap, is just as doting as she is. He already had two grown-up children when they met, but she says fatherhood a third and fourth time for him has been just as great.
Laura says: “We look at everything through their eyes and love watching the Disney films with them. We are obsessed with them and walk around the house singing the songs. Mark is such a fantastic dad and he is looking after them both while I work. They all have a wild time together. I love watching them dance in the room together.
“Jesse and Ronnie’s big brother and sister are just as brilliant too. They’ve got a lovely connection with them both.” Sadly, both Jesse and Ronnie have a rare condition, Usher syndrome, which can affect hearing, balance, and sight.
Laura and Mark both carried the abnormal gene, and they are now determined to do everything they can to help raise awareness and money to hopefully one day find a cure. Laura says: “It was a such a huge shock when we discovered they both had Usher syndrome.
“They both wear hearing aids and it’s very much a waiting game in terms of when their eyesight will start to deteriorate. It can be in their late teens or it could be sooner, we just don’t know.
“We know we have a very short window to help them, but Mark and I both want to do everything we can to help find a cure. Our friends and family have been amazing and something like this definitely makes you not sweat the small stuff.” Now she has returned to Emmerdale, does she envisage having more kids?
Laura says: “Oh no, two is plenty. It’s lovely to have a boy and a girl and I feel if I had another one, I wouldn’t have any time to give to that child. I am in awe of people who have more than two.” Laura and Mark have been engaged since 2019, but there are still no wedding plans in place.
She says: “Things keep getting in the way. Mark’s daughter jokes it is the longest engagement in the world. You never know, but when the time is right we will. It will be very chilled though and not like the lavish plans we had once a time a go.”
Emmerdale bosses seem to have lavish plans for Kerry now she is back after taking time out to get over the betrayal of fiancé Al Chapman, who was having an affair with Chas Dingle. Laura says: “I feel like I have won the lottery playing Kerry. The things I get to wear and do as her are so much fun and she is still a bit of a car crash– but now she is back, she is trying to convince people she is a new and improved Kerry.
“Time will tell if she is telling a few porkies or not, but I am loving being back at work playing her again.” Teasing what lies in store for Kerry, Laura say: “She is going to get a job in the Woolpack and I know she will rule the roost and treat it like her pub!
“She is proud of her figure and will definitely be wearing some very tight, brightly coloured clothes too. I also think she will be a bit naughty. She makes me laugh. I am looking forward to seeing where she goes next.”