The actress joined the ITV soap as the newcomer earlier this year but didn’t know the truth about Ella

Emmerdale star Paula Lane has spoken of her nerves about the latest twist in Ella Forster’s storyline because of her own children. The actress joined the ITV soap as the newcomer earlier this year but admitted she never knew that her character Ella was going to turn out to be a child killer.

Viewers were suspicious of Ella when she found her way to the village as the new receptionist at the GP practice before catching the eye of Doctor Liam Cavanagh.

It wasn’t until later that she was revealed to have killed her 11-year-old best friend when she feared losing her friend’s mum, Ruth, who had become like a mother to her. Liam was horrified to discover the truth having lost his own daughter, Leanna, to serial killer Meena Jutla.

Other people in the village also quickly took a dislike to Ella and she ended up leaving the village. However, she returned last month (July) when Mandy Dingle discovered an intruder and quickly realised that it was in fact, Ella. Clearly in distress, Ella explained that she’d just come back to collect the rest of her belongings.

She was then involved in a car crash and at the hospital, discovered she was pregnant. Liam didn’t believe her at first but when he came round to the idea of being a dad again and joined Ella at the hospital, they were shocked to discover there wasn’t a baby.

Liam was quick to accuse Ella of lying to him about being pregnant, however, Manpreet Sharma later confirmed that Ella had suffered a silent miscarriage, also known as an anembryonic pregnancy.

Speaking about the twists so far, particularly Ella being a child killer, Paula Lane said: “Yeah, most people didn’t see that one coming. I’ve had a few messages actually, like via social media. All very positive on the acting front.”

Speaking about her initial reaction to the storyline, the former Coronation Street star said: “When I took the part of Ella, I didn’t know the storyline was going to be this storyline but I think any actor worth their salt will take something very gritty and that’s going to give you full exposure and run with it. I knew that it was in safe hands and they were going to do a great job with it.

“Combined with the writer and director, I knew they were going to make it something. Initially, I was quite nervous to play it out. You never know which way the audience will go. Ultimately, you look for the truth in it and it follows on from there.”

But it did also create some worry for Paula, who shares children Arthur and Penny with partner Tom Shaw. She shared: “I have to admit, when I was picking my kids up from school, I asked ‘Was anything said today? Has anybody mentioned anything about Mummy?’ You do feel a bit ‘Oh, God, this is challenging stuff, because you’re working around children.”

In upcoming Emmerdale scenes, Ella celebrates her 30th birthday, but Joanne’s killing took place on the day of Ella’s 11th birthday and so the occasion doesn’t end well as Elle ends up attacking Wendy after bumping into someone from her past.

Teasing the “amazing” episode to come, Paula told us: “I don’t think she’s ever been as unhinged as she is in that scene,” she says. “Has she lost it? Or is she doing it for a good reason? Is she almost putting on a front?” It comes after Paula had earlier said of her character: “That’s what’s great about her because you never quite know when something’s going to trigger. And that’s what’s fantastic about this because it can go any which way now.”