Patsy Kensit made one demand when she returned to Emmerdale: that Sadie King wouldn't be killed off. The iconic character is back in the Dales, arriving this week by helicopter in a nod to her previous arrival in the village a number of decades ago.
Patsy, 58, first appeared in 2004 before leaving two years later, but is back in the village once more after two decades for a six-month stint. She's quickly at the heart of the action when it was revealed that Sadie had been having an affair with Jimmy King (Nick Miles), who died in a devastating marquee car crash and left Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler) struggling with the financial burden of raising their kids and trying to fund university education for their eldest.
One Demand for Bosses
It was a joy for Patsy to return, but she had one demand for bosses. "It came out of absolutely nowhere, which is sometimes the nicest way things can happen," she says. "I said, 'I don't want to kill the character off, though, because I would love to think that she may return again.' So the team of writers are phenomenal... and people will be shocked."
Such was her return a secret that she booked into a hotel up North with a fake name to keep things under the radar. "The hotel, I had to put under a fake name there. And my agent and I came up and sat and chatted and just was like, 'Yeah, you know, why not? Let's do it,'" she says. Of how it's changed since her first stint 20 years ago, she added: "I think one episode I'm in 60 scenes or something... It used to be six days a week when I did it first time around."
Return Impact and Reunions
Her return doesn't just impact grieving Nicola's life, but Sadie soon crashes into a number of her character's conquests. Her tryst with Robert Sugden (then played by Karl Davies and now played by Ryan Hawley) was a big part of her original appearance, as was her romantic connection with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley).
"Ryan and I have had a lot of stuff to do together... He's very funny, and that's been great," she says. "It was quite a daunting day with Jeff Hordley scenes. It was all about putting that relationship to bed. There was a lot she revealed that happened to her after he left her on the runway. Jeff's such a brilliant actor, as is everyone on the show. I'm learning so much every day again... but we decided to sort of play against that and just make it a real conversation between two people that had shared some time together."
Her return marks the reunion of two of the soap's 'super b***ches' as Claire King's Kim Tate goes head to head with Patsy's Sadie. On working with the soap legend, she says: "Claire King is the queen, and I'm so happy to be working with her. I've got so much respect for Claire... I've always been a super fan. Our paths cross a couple of times and then some barbed comments, which is very Dynasty."
Nerves and Fondness
Despite her glittering acting career, it didn't stem the nerves when she returned to Emmerdale this time around. "I was so nervous my first week. Mark [Charnock] called me up just to say, look, you know, 'We're so thrilled that you're coming back,'" she says. "And I said, 'Mark, I'm just I'm absolutely s***ing myself.' And he said, 'You know what? It would be weird if you weren't.'"
"There's nothing like a warm Yorkshire welcome... It's the nicest place to work. Everyone genuinely cares about the show. It's hard work, I'm not going to say it isn't, but it's rewarding," she says. Patsy feels very "protective" over Sadie and she is thoroughly enjoying living vicariously through her character.
"For me, it's a role that I've really cherished, and I'm very protective about her. It changed my life when I did it, you know, 20-odd years ago, and it's just wonderful to be back for a little while and just get to say all those horrible things to people with delight," she says. "It's wonderful to live vicariously through this woman who seems to have no shame in her game. But does she really have what she had before when she left? They're really taking apart who the woman is."
