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WhatToWatch
Entertainment
Grace Morris

Emmerdale's Emma Atkins on axing fears for Charity Dingle

Emmerdale Charity Dingle looking sad wearing a black top and her hair down.

Emmerdale legend Emma Atkins has revealed that she was worried her character Charity Dingle would be axed after her deadly showdown with Damon 'Harry' Harris (Robert Beck).

Charity has been struggling to cope with the trauma of accidentally killing dangerous gangster Harry to save her husband Mackenzie Boyd's (Lawrence Robb) life.

The messy love triangle between Mack, Charity and his ex Chloe Harris (Jessie Elland) came to a devastating conclusion after Chloe's dad Harry kidnapped Mack and held him hostage in revenge for his love rat ways.

Charity tracked down a battered and bruised Mack to an abandoned building, where she was horrified to learn that Harry planned to shoot and kill Mack.

Mack attacked Harry, causing him to drop his gun and Charity grabbed it. But as Harry tried to force it out of her hand, the gun went off and shot him.

Harry was shot dead by Charity after he kidnapped Mackenzie Boyd. (Image credit: ITV)

We have since seen Charity try to hide her anguish from her loved ones and carry on as normal, but it's clear that she is deeply traumatised by the ordeal. 

As the storyline continues, Charity begins to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the incident will put a severe strain on her and Mack's relationship as they try to deal with their turmoil privately.

Talking to What To Watch, Emma revealed that when she discovered that Charity killed Harry she questioned whether she would be axed from the soap.

She said: "I think it's funny, isn’t it? Because when I got the script, I was a bit like, ‘Wow! Oh my gosh, this makes me a killer.’ But I guess I'm a bit like what will be will be. Like, you can never really be fearful of these things because if my time at Emmerdale has come to an end, then I will always be okay because that's my job, I’ve chosen to be an actor. You're just sort of going with the flow. 

"I did think at one point, 'Oh, god, my character has now killed.' But then when I read the script, I realised actually, it's an act of love. It's an act of self defence. She doesn't do it purposefully. There's no intent to kill. So that made me feel a bit better! But I guess I'm quite open to crazy things happening with my character."

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30 pm on ITV1, with a hour-long episode on Thursdays — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on ITVX.

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