The actress teased fans as she shared that she’d be returning to the Dales for one night only
Emmerdale actress Roxy Shahidi dropped a spoiler as Leyla Harding’s funeral took place in the latest episode of the ITV soap.
The 41-year-old actress first joined Emmerdale in 2008 part-time before taking on the role permanently in 2014, and became a fan favourite in the village. Leyla arrived to work with Eric Pollard at the factory before she struck up a relationship with David Metcalfe.
Leyla temporarily left the Dales as it was revealed that she was Jacob’s biological mum, but decided to return when Jacob contacted her and asked to be in her life. In 2019 Roxy was nominated in the Best Soap Actress category at the TV Choice Awards in 2019.
However, she officially left the ITV soap one last time during the aftermath of the Valentine’s limo crash that claimed three villagers lives. Leyla Harding was the second resident to lose her life after Take a Vow colleague Suzy Merton.
She was impaled by a piece of glass during the crash, yet didn’t inform the rest of the group until it was just her and Kerry left in the limo as she admitted she couldn’t move. Kerry managed to drag her across the ice.
Leyla unexpectedly appeared in the Emmerdale episode about her funeral(Image: ITV)
During Thursday’s instalment, it was Amy Wyatt’s and Leyla’s separate funerals as the village mourned the loss. However, it was Leyla who stole the show as she returned to give a voice over during the episode.
As it started, she gave a monologue: “And they say farming’s dangerous, I could’ve told you the danger money’s in events. Bridezillas are on dangerous beast. Surprised I made it to 40, I know I don’t look it. Still, it was one hell of a ride. Way too short though, what I’d give to be young again. Saturday nights in town, not a care in the world. And then you meet the one, and you reckon it’s gonna last forever.”
She continued: “‘Till someone else steals his heart, and that’s when all the mistakes come rumbling in. I guess I could never handle being a grown-up. Could never handle affairs of the heart, why do things always have to be so complicated? And never what they appear to be…”
Various flashbacks aired about Suzy and Mary, Manpreet and Tracy highlighting that Leyla knew some of their hidden secrets before she died and left the Dales for good.
Roxy shared that it was Leyla’s “last ever episode”(Image: Roxy Shahidi on Instagram)
Taking to her Instagram, Roxy posted a video to her story as she shared: “So, you all thought Leyla was dead and you’d never see her again… Well, she is dead, but she’s in tonight’s episode.
“So, tune in because it’s a little bit different, there’s something you will not be expecting that happens in tonight’s episode. It’s my very last episode so tune in!”
Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
