Katie Hill has confirmed that Sarah Sugden will stay in Emmerdale following the dramatic death of Dr Caitlin Todd. The actress, who plays Sarah, said producer Sophie Roper quickly assured her that the character would not be leaving the show.
Sarah's future confirmed
Speaking at a recent Emmerdale press event in Leeds, Hill revealed her initial reaction to learning Sarah would be the one to kill Dr Todd. "I was speechless at first. I couldn't believe that it was going to be Sarah that was the one to kill. You know, I never had this on the cards for her," she said.
Hill admitted her first thought was whether Sarah would face prison. "It was exciting to hear that was what we had coming up. My first thought, honestly, was, 'Oh gosh, am I going to prison and [am I] going to be out of the show?'"
However, the producer quickly put those fears to rest. "But Sophie [Roper, producer] quickly sort of said, 'Don't worry, that's not going to happen.' And then from that moment on, I was just really excited to get started with it."
Biggest storyline yet
Hill described the storyline as the biggest of her career on the ITV soap. "I was just honoured to be trusted with this storyline. This is the biggest storyline I've had. It's transitioning Sarah from being this innocent, happy, young mum with Jacob to then this massive moment in her life that will change her forever. So yeah, [I'm] just so excited and grateful to have been given the storyline."
The recent storyline saw Sarah face a cervical cancer diagnosis last year, shortly before deciding she wished to become a mother. Sarah and her husband Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) turned to surrogacy, with Sarah's grandmother Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) agreeing to carry their child.
However, unbeknownst to Sarah and Jacob, their daughter Leyla is not biologically theirs. She is the result of Charity's one-night stand with Ross Barton (Michael Parr). Charity had been subjected to blackmail over Leyla's true parentage by Dr Todd (Caroline Harker), who was accidentally killed by Sarah earlier this month.
Investigation underway
Upon discovering that the doctor had sexually assaulted her grandmother, Sarah shoved Dr Todd towards the front door at Jacobs Fold. Todd stumbled on a rug and struck her head against the edge of a table, before dying from a fatal head wound on the floor.
Serena Sugden (Casey Al-Shaqsy) arrived shortly after the incident and assisted Charity in lodging a self-defence claim by manufacturing physical evidence of an altercation.
Dr Todd's death is currently under investigation by newcomer DS Thea Ramsden (Chelsea Edge), who maintains a secret friendship with Serena. She also harbours ambitions to bring down Kim Tate (Claire King) for motives that remain undisclosed.
Emmerdale airs weekday nights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
