Emmerdale star Olivia Bromley shed real tears while filming the tragic death of her character, Dawn Fletcher. Due to marry bad boy Joe Tate, their plans were scuppered when Jimmy King crashed into the wedding marquee, causing a big explosion, and pregnant Dawn was rushed to hospital.
Sent into premature labour, Dawn gave birth safely to a baby boy with Joe at her side, but she suffered a serious internal bleed. Suddenly, without warning, she crashed and, despite medics' best efforts to resuscitate her, she died.
Olivia's emotional reaction to Dawn's exit
In her first interview since the explosive scenes, Olivia, 30, who was originally signed by Emmerdale for just 12 episodes in 2018, tells The Mirror: "It was the toughest storyline I've done during my time in the soap. I was surprised by how emotional I found it and it was way more emotional than I was expecting. I did cry. It is very strange to kill off your character as an actor and in front of your colleagues. But that said, what a gift to be given. Often people leave and just slip off."
The actress was told earlier this year her character would be at the heart of a huge exit storyline during the soap's biggest week of the year. Having reached a crossroads playing Dawn, she says it was almost a relief to have the decision over what to do with the role made for her.
She says: "This is a good time for me to go on a personal level. I had felt ready for the character to go. This character felt like she had done so much and I didn't know what direction she could go in next. I had played her for a long time, and it felt like I needed to do other things. I am proud this was such a big finale to my time in the soap."
Real paramedics used in medical scenes
But news that Dawn was being killed off came as a bolt from the blue and she confesses she would have liked to have left the door open to one day return. Despite the initial shock, she says: "Psychologically, now I have had time to reflect, I know it's good for me, because I can say bye to my Emmerdale chapter. It's been brilliant. I was originally only signed up for 12 episodes and I've stayed eight years!"
And if viewers found her final scenes surprisingly realistic, she can now share the secret - that real life paramedics, rather than actors, were used to make the medical scenes convincing. She says: "They had real life paramedics and intensive care workers who came in to play those parts. Emmerdale is a fast-paced soap and we often don't have time to train actors up, so they bring supporting people in with a lot of experience."
Likening it to an "out of body" experience, she adds of her character's death scenes: "They had rehearsed the crash response with Ned [who plays Joe Tate] and the supporting artists first and, right at the last minute, they put me in the scene. I had no idea what was going on. They went into the crash response, and it felt like an out of body experience lying there. They were all so professional and brilliant at what they did."
Dawn's tragic end and Olivia's future
But Olivia is sad that Dawn's life ended so tragically. She says: "Even though she was able to cradle the baby with her children and Joe by her side, nobody had picked up on her bleeding internally. Finally, she had got what she wanted and so it was a sad end for her."
Dawn originally arrived in the village as a drug addicted sex worker. Her big storylines included finding her long lost son and her on-off romance with her big love, ex-husband Billy. But she fell for Joe Tate in January 2025, after embarking on an affair behind Billy's back.
They got engaged in December 2025 and by February 2026 discovered they were expecting a baby. But in recent months, Dawn, who had two other children and an adopted daughter, had been troubled by her lingering feelings for Billy. And when he was attacked last month, she believed Joe was responsible and had planned to escape with Billy, rather than marrying the bad boy. However, in a massive plot twist, it became apparent Billy had actually been attacked by Kev - making Dawn want to marry Joe after all.
Olivia says: "Only a few weeks ago, she was talking about escaping with Billy, but in the end chose Joe. If Dawn hadn't returned to Joe at the end, she would still be alive now. Billy is her true love but ultimately, she is an addict and she was drawn to Joe."
She continues: "I've loved playing Dawn and I've enjoyed watching her develop and change. I've made many friends too and I am going to miss them a lot - especially everyone at Home Farm and Jay, who plays Billy. We are like brother and sister; we get on so well."
Away from Emmerdale, Olivia lives happily in Leeds with her partner, who she keeps out of the public eye. She says: "My life has changed since joining the show. It has given me stability and, alongside the character, I've grown and changed. It's made me ambitious in different ways and taken my life in a different way."
After graduating from Oxford School of Drama, Olivia moved to London to work in theatre, before the call from Emmerdale came. She says: "This did change things for me and to be a working actor for eight years has been very special."
And she would love to continue working in TV drama. She says: "I want to try some new things. It's an exciting time and I would love to do a period drama or a gritty 9pm drama like Line of Duty."
Now awaiting auditions, she has her leaving party to look forward to next weekend. She says: "It's themed and I think we all deserve a drink after such a chaotic, complex end for Dawn. I'm also looking forward to just being me and not Dawn!"
As for Emmerdale without her? Olivia says: "The audience will go on a rollercoaster I am sure! I will always be so grateful to Emmerdale for giving me this role and to have been able to play Dawn fully until the end has been so much fun."
Emmerdale airs every weekday on ITV1 and STV1 at 8pm. Episodes can also be downloaded on ITVX.
