Emmerdale’s Ella Forster star Paula Lane has sparked mystery with a cryptic night filming snap alongside co-stars Lisa Riley, who plays Mandy Dingle, and Jonny McPherson, who plays Liam Cavanagh

Emmerdale’s Ella Forster star Paula Lane has teased exciting scenes for the hit ITV soap. Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, the former Coronation Street star, 38, posted a snap with co-stars Lisa Riley, who plays Mandy Dingle, and Jonny McPherson, who plays Liam Cavanagh.

The star penned: “@Emmerdale night shoot” with a fire emoji, tagging Lisa’s Instagram and adding “Johnny”, who isn’t on the platform. In the snap, the trio all pulled an animated face while dressed warmly for the night shoot.

Soap watchers will recall that typically night shoots indicate a dramatic storyline or stunt, it remains to be seen what is coming up for the three characters. Meanwhile, following the night shoot, Paula celebrated Emmerdale’s incredible win at the National Television Awards.

She penned: “WINNER – it was such a lovely surprise to get home after a night shoot to this news! I’m constantly amazed at how much goes into producing this show @emmerdale @itv It’s a machine that doesn’t stop and we [heart] it. Thank you to all the viewers who voted.”

It comes after an explosive few months for Paula’s character Ella on the hit ITV soap. The mysterious character returned to the village in July after her killer secret was exposed and she scarpered, leaving love interest Liam rocked. Upon her return, Ella learnt she was pregnant, leaving Liam utterly stunned. However, in a heartbreaking twist during a scan, no foetus could be found.

Things went from bad to worse for the character when Ella, who continues to hide her whereabouts from people outside of the village after her killer past was exposed, lost it when she saw photos of herself on the salon social media page after a birthday treat from pal Mandy.

Soon her fears were confirmed, when June’s nephew Gary arrived after tracking her down and he had words with her. Gary confronted a shaken Ella, and handed her a photo of Joanne, the girl Ella killed, causing her to rush out. Gary ran after a tearful, fearful Ella and she fell to the ground, while it was clear Gary was also struggling.

Later, following the showdown, Wendy Posner took Ella away from the scene and comforted her. However, it wasn’t long until she started to attack her and as a result of the violent outburst against Wendy, she was arrested before returning back to the village.

It remains to be seen what’s next for Ella on the hit ITV soap but actress Paula recently confirmed that she had renewed her contract on the Yorkshire-based programme, sharing a selfie while in character with cuts and bruises on her face.

“Oh, Ella… whatever next?! I can confirm a new contract signed today for moi. Very happy to be calling Emmerdale my second home for the next chapter,” she’d captioned.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.