Charley Webb has been quizzed on whether she'll return to Emmerdale, while also revealing what she didn't like about the character she played for two decades. The Bury-born actress made her debut in the ITV soap as Debbie Dingle back in 2002 before leaving in 2019. She later returned for a guest stint that spanned 2020 to 2021.
Debbie Dingle's Storyline
Emmerdale fans will recall that Debbie originally left the village for Scotland and has been mentioned a few times since, including when Zak Dingle went to visit her before his death. The last update viewers received on Debbie was that she had moved to Australia without warning, with her daughter, Sarah Sugden, only discovering the news when she rang to tell her about her cancer diagnosis.
Possibility of Return
Charley has now addressed the possibility of returning to Emmerdale while appearing on Luke Hamnett's podcast, Live, Laugh, Luke. "Not at the moment, no," she said. "There's no plans for me to go back, just because I think it wouldn't be the right time and having three kids is a lot and also working there is a lot."
The mum-of-three, who shares her sons with her former Emmerdale co-star ex Matthew Wolfenden, did admit that she does get a lot of fans pointing out that Debbie's absence doesn't quite make sense in the long-running show, as the character's father, Cain Dingle, faces a cancer diagnosis and her mum, Charity Dingle, was also recently a surrogate for her granddaughter, Sarah.
Dislike for Character Name
In the same podcast chat, Charley also confessed something she doesn't like about her Dales alter-ego. "I hate that name by the way, it's the worst name!" the former soap star confessed. Asked whether she still gets called Debbie by fans, Charley, 38, replied: "It's not even the Debbie that offends me, it's the double D, like why would you do that? Why would you come up with that for me?"
