Sophie Powles, best known for playing Holly Barton on the ITV soap between 2009 and 2024, has paid an emotional tribute to her late co-star Kitty McGeever on what would have been her 60th birthday. Kitty, who was blind, played Lizzie Lakely in Emmerdale between 2009 and 2013 but had to leave the soap that year after being hospitalised and placed on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. She died two years later in August 2015, at the age of just 48.
Heartfelt Instagram message
Alongside a sepia photograph of Kitty, Sophie wrote on Instagram: “Yesterday the most magic, strong and outrageous woman I have ever met turned 60.
“I know she is having a hell of a party. Just really sh** we’re not at it. Kitty, I love you forever, your sunny girl.”
Sophie was immediately supported by her former co-stars, including Matty Barton star Ash Palmisciano and Lydia Dingle actress Karen Blick.
Fans share their condolences
One fan said: “Sending love!” as another agreed: “Kitty was one of a kind.”
Someone else posted: “Aww she was absolutely lovely, great actor, lovely on set, nice, caring and funny.”
Kitty's health struggles
Kitty was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 19 and lost her sight when she was 32. When she was pregnant with her first son Felix, Kitty developed pre-eclampsia, and when Felix was just four months old he developed heart and lung conditions, the stress of which caused Kitty’s stress levels to rise.
She developed heart problems, kidney failure and diabetic retinopathy, which caused her to lose her sight. She told The Mirror in 2009: “My kidneys weren’t working so my body was filling with fluid and I went into heart failure.
“I realised there was something wrong with my eyes and went to see the specialist.
"They told me I had this condition that would usually take five to 10 years to take my sight, but it took five months because of all the stress."
Kitty’s son Felix sadly died at the age of just 15 months.
