Emmerdale star Katie Hill feared she was about to be written out of the ITV soap after producer Sophie Roper told her that her character, Sarah Sugden, would kill Dr Todd. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, the actress revealed that the news left her worried her time on the show was over after nearly a decade in the role.
Fear of being axed
With multiple cast exits confirmed this year, Katie thought she might be next. The news that Sarah would turn killer sparked her fears. She told the Mirror: "Straight away I was like, 'Do I go to prison?' and Sophie Roper [Emmerdale producer] just said, 'No, you don't go to prison.' I was like, phew. Sophie then she explained the situation, it's accidental."
Katie added: "But it was definitely a thought that, 'Oh gosh, am I going off the show?'."
Stunned by the twist
The actress confessed she was speechless when she first learned her character would kill Todd, who had blackmailed and raped Sarah's grandmother Charity Dingle weeks prior. She said: "I was a bit speechless in the meeting when Sophie first told me, because it was a lot to take in. It was just one thing after another, I was like, 'Oh my gosh!'"
Despite the challenge, Katie felt supported: "But I was so excited when I got told that it was coming up. Every actor wants to be challenged, and it was certainly massively challenging. But luckily, I had Emma Atkins [Charity] by my side, I had Casey Al-Shaqsy [Serena Sugden], and our lovely director. So, we had a good team of people around us that made it feel less daunting."
What lies ahead for Sarah
Teasing future storylines, Katie warned of "hurdles" and "grief" for Sarah, hinting she could confess to police. She explained: "She's going to really struggle. We'll see her go on a journey of grief after what she's done. There's more things coming along the way, more twists and turns. I mean it's Emmerdale! You'll definitely see her struggling, because she's just not that person. She doesn't have that in her to kill. It's something that's happened accidentally. It's a difficult time for her."
On whether the ordeal could split Sarah and her husband Jacob, she said: "I hope not, because I think Sarah and Jacob are really well suited for each other. I think they've already been through so much together. So I'm hoping that they can get through this last hurdle, hopefully. But it won't be the last hurdle, because it's Emmerdale, so they're going to have many more hurdles to come!"
Katie also teased Sarah's reaction to the fact that her baby daughter Leyla is actually Charity's daughter. She said: "Leyla is everything to Sarah, so it would be a massive moment for her finding out that she's not hers. I don't think we can say too much about it, but I can't imagine it's going to go well at first."
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
