Sacked Emmerdale star Shila Iqbal has returned to social media for the first time since she was axed from the soap over a racist tweet storm.
The actress, 24, was booted from the ITV drama after a series of sickening tweets she sent aged 18 resurfaced online.
In a Twitter exchange with friends, Iqbal used the N-word and a number of gay slurs, promoting Emmerdale bosses to cut her from the cast straight away.
After the scandal hit headlines, she deleted her entire Twitter account.
She has now gone back to social media to break her silence, posting a message trying to explain what she sent such vile messages.
In a post on Instagram , Iqbal wrote: " want to say I am truly sorry to anyone who I have hurt or offended with the tweets I sent as a silly, uneducated teenager.
"Please know I do not condone the language I used 6/7 years ago.
Sacked Emmerdale star Shila Iqbal's racist and homophobic tweets revealed
"Even if I was having a conversation with friends and had no malice behind the tweets, the now mature and wiser me knows that it was utterly wrong of me to do so.
"Also, thank you so much to everyone who has supported me through this difficult time..."
An Emmerdale spokeswoman confirmed news of her departure: "As a consequence of historic social media posts Shila Iqbal has left her role as Aiesha Richards on Emmerdale.
Emmerdale's Shila Iqbal blasts soap bosses for sacking her over racist tweets
"The programme took the decision not to renew her contract as soon as these posts were brought to the company's attention."
The actress was upgraded to an official member of Emmerdale in March this year, to play the role of Manpreet Jutla’s daughter.
Her final scenes will air next month.
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