Legendary actress Deena Payne, now 70-years-old, isn’t happy about a lot of things – including her shock departure from ITV’s Emmerdale and her ‘creepy’ TV co-star she hoped wouldn’t get the role

Deena Payne is a face many of us won’t forget – even though she left our screens decades ago.

Rising to fame and just all-round iconic status for her role of Viv Hope in Emmerdale, the 70-year-old actress first joined the drama-filled Yorkshire village in 1993. Her fiery character, gauche fashion sense, and penchant for gossip always provided viewers with a much needed-laugh amid the endless storylines of abductions, serial killers, and affairs.

But, in 2011, Viv was killed off in a post office explosion after getting drunk and passing out in her flat. Friend Terry Woods (portrayed by Billy Hartman) tried to rescue her from the flames but also ended up being killed in the inferno. Years later and Deena still isn’t happy with how she was written out of the show.

Appearing on the Distinct Nostalgia podcast, the star said 18 years on the soap was ‘enough’ but that she would’ve rather stayed and given her notice in on her own time. “I was bitterly disappointed with the storyline exit I had as well after all the years I had been in,” she said.

“I was hurt quite deeply and I did enjoy playing the character. I still miss that, absolutely, it did hurt, that’s for sure because it was a life and a person I had been playing for 18 years and it was also my son’s total upbringing and schooling… I not only didn’t have a storyline building up to it, but I also didn’t even have a grave in Emmerdale. They just sent my bits down south and I didn’t have any family left there so I did feel all of a sudden gone.”

Deena’s disagreement with the soap started a long time before her shock departure. According to Leeds Live, the actor thought her TV husband Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) was a bit of a ‘creep’ and didn’t want him to get the role after his audition.

“The truth being there were six people auditioning for Bob and the producer came up to me and said, ‘look, did you have any feelings about any of them?'” Deena recalls. “And I said, ‘look, just not number six because he was really creepy’, and that was Tony. Anyway, bless him, not that anyone told him, and he got the job.”

Off-screen, Deena’s love life has been less turbulent. When she was just 24, she married famed percussionist Frank Ricotti, who played for Elton John among other A-listers. “I just wanted my independence,” she told The Mirror when talking about their split.

“It was a classic situation, really – I was too young to be settled down. We’re still friends, but back then I wanted to be off, travelling and seeing the world, so I just shifted a gear and moved out.”