Emmerdale’s Vanessa struggled to cope on set after filming the limo crash where Suzy died

Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick revealed how she “broke down in tears” during filming as she had to leave Martelle Edinborough behind during the Valentine’s limo crash.

While Valentine’s started off with excitement as Liam planned on proposing to Chas, things quickly turned into something of a horror movie after both limos crashed in separate instances.

Caleb furiously drove one limo and swerved out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, yet no one was injured in the process. It was a different story for the other, as Liam, Chas, Amy, Vanessa, Tracy, Suzy, Kerry and Leyla were all at risk as Charity veered off the road onto the frozen lake.

Emmerdale have aired three confirmed deaths – Suzy Merton, Leyla Harding and Amy Barton. Leyla was impaled by a broken piece of glass during the accident and was pronounced dead before the medics managed to get her to hospital.

Amy’s story was even more brutal as she first fell into the freezing cold water as the ice broke beneath her feet. Tracy managed to pull her out of the water, but despite the efforts of the doctors at Hotten hospital, Amy was the third tragedy of the night.

She died after suffering a cardiac arrest, but in her final moments she urgently tried to inform husband Matty that she had seen Nate under water. Sadly, he misunderstood and she’s now taken that secret to her grave.

Suzy Merton was the first death after she hit her head during the impact of the crash. They weren’t able to drag her body out of the vehicle before it submerged below the surface.

Suzy was the first to die in the aftermath of the accident(Image: ITV)

Michelle Hardwick who plays Vanessa Woodfield in the ITV soap, shared how emotional she was during the shooting of the limo crash, particularly after Suzy’s death.

She told the Manchester Evening News and other press: “We hear how Vanessa, when she’s grieving, how she was planning their future and things like that. So Vanessa did think they were endgame. It wasn’t meant to be.”

“I think maybe she could have moved the relationship on a little bit quicker than she did do, rather than them sort of just coasting for the last year. But like I say, they’ve got Johnny, they’ve both got careers. I think she’ll probably regret that.”

The actress continued: “It’s so heartbreaking, Suzy just died instantly from the impact of the crash… Just putting yourself in that situation and everyone all over everybody just the sheer panic and then when you find out you’re in the middle of the lake on the ice…”

Michelle admitted how difficult it was to film those scenes in the middle of the night in December, she revealed: “You’re in this confined space and I remember thinking ‘how would you react’ you just go hysterical where you don’t stop screaming but if I played it like that it probably wouldn’t be great because you wouldn’t be able to hear anything else.

“The point where Vanessa had to leave and leave her in there, it was so heartbreaking. It was horrific, it was so so upsetting to do. It was really hard and really upsetting. Your emotions are heightened anyway and there was one point I just broke down in tears like off camera, because it all got quite a lot actually. It was really emotional but it was bittersweet because it’s one of the best things I’ve ever filmed in my career.”

Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.