We’ve said goodbye to a number of Emmerdale stars in 2024

Stars of Emmerdale and Coronation Street are reportedly facing an uncertain future with some icons offering fans an insight into life as a soap actor.

In the last month, we have seen Daisy Campbell’s character Amelia Spencer leave the village while over Christmas Will Taylor, played by Dean Andrews, was killed off. It has been reported, after seven years Susan Cookson has filmed her final scenes as Wendy Posner.

In the coming weeks, it is also expected that Paula Lane and Lesley Dunlop will leave their roles as Ella Forster and Brenda Walker. The Sun reports acting talents on Emmerdale and ITV rival Coronation Street share a potential uncertain future.

A source said: “ITV is going through a cash crisis with the soaps and the money just isn’t there to pay for everyone any more.

“Ultimately if the character isn’t inspiring a lot of story from producers then there’s no space for them in the show anymore. There’s certainly a worry on set about who will be next to go.”

They added: “It’s a really worrying time for a lot of cast and crew on the soaps – they don’t know if they’re going to have jobs after their current contracts end. Soaps used to be steady employment for people in the industry but it’s not that way anymore.”

Traditionally, contracts for established stars are reviewed and potentially renewed on an annual basis. As we’ve previously reported, even soap greats know that nothing lasts forever in the industry.

Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy Dingle, arguably one of the show’s best-loved characters, has been in Emmerdale for over 20 years.

“Every Christmas when the contract is up, I still think that’s probably it,” Dominic, 54, told our colleagues at The Mirror. “I think that keeps me going, the thought that at any point you could be out. You can’t just wing it, turn up with no ideas.

“So I try hard – but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have a job this good for so long.”

While colleague Danny Miller, who plays Aaron Dingle, has previously offered his thoughts.

“It’s a bit like football – when the new producers come in and have their own ideas of how they want to play and have their idea of who are the star players.

“Although your previous boss has said, ‘you’re part of the plans’, the new boss could come in and say, ‘you’re not my kind of actor, you’re out of here’.”

He continued: “Everybody panics because you don’t know what they want to do and if you have had loads of storylines you fear they might not want to use you as such, and it’s always interesting to see what they bring to the show. But I think it’s healthy to worry about it.”

Of course, we’ll keep you posted on the latest Emmerdale comings and goings.