Emmerdale star Katie Hill has revealed she feared being written off the soap after her character Sarah Sugden was exposed as Doctor Todd's killer. The actress, who has played Sarah since 2017, spoke exclusively to Daily Star about the dramatic storyline.
Katie Hill's shock at killer reveal
In a recent episode, Sarah accidentally killed the villainous Doctor Todd, played by Caroline Harker. Todd had been bullying Sarah's husband Jacob Sugden at the hospital and sexually assaulting and blackmailing Sarah's grandmother Charity Dingle over the true parentage of baby Leyla Sugden.
A flash-forward in July had teased Todd's murder, sparking speculation among fans with suspects including Mackenzie, Charity, Jacob, and Vanessa. The reveal finally confirmed Sarah as the culprit.
Fear of prison and future on the show
Katie said: "I found out about six weeks before it happened that Sarah was going to kill Todd, and I was just speechless. I just didn't know what to say."
Her immediate concern was for her character's fate: "My first thought was 'oh gosh I'm going to prison' 'I'm not going to be on the show' and so the producers sort of said don't worry, you don't go to prison, Charity takes the blame and then from that moment on I was just really excited. It was a privilege to be trusted with that."
Charity, played by Emma Atkins, takes the blame for the death, telling police she killed Todd. Sarah struggles with guilt, with Katie describing it as "a massive, massive moment in Sarah's life. It changes everything, it completely rocks her world."
Exploring Sarah's Sugden side
Sarah's cousin Serena becomes involved in covering up the death. Katie said it has been enjoyable to explore Sarah's "Sugden side": "I think it's nice exploring this other side and I love working with Danny (Miller, Aaron Dingle) and Ryan Hawley (Robert Sugden) they're such a fun pair to be on set with."
This is not Katie's only major storyline, as there is also the secret of her daughter's true parentage. Sarah believes she and husband Jacob are Leyla's biological parents, but the truth is the tot is the result of an affair between Charity and Ross Barton (Mike Parr).
Discussing the "really weird" storyline, Katie said: "Someone said to me, Sarah's been breastfeeding her auntie and honestly I couldn't get it out of my head." She teased that the reveal of baby Leyla's parents will push her closer to the Sugdens: "With everyone to come with Charity and the baby, it's nice that Sarah's got the Sugdens as well because it's obviously going to shake things up with the Dingles."
Katie admitted it has been difficult keeping the "massive secret" from fans who approach her in the street: "The amount of people that came up to me and said 'oh someone needs to get rid of that Todd!' What happens with Todd? Does she get her comeuppance?"
Speaking at the Emmerdale press day, Katie said of Sarah's reaction: "It's a massive moment in Sarah's life, it changed everything, it completely rocks her world. Obviously it was by accident, we all know Sarah's character, she doesn't have that in her. It comes as a massive shock and I think when it first happened she doesn't even know how to process it, she can't even comprehend that this has happened."
Producer Sophie Roper added: "She's a young woman who's probably at the happiest point in her life. She's got this brilliant relationship with Jacob and she's got her daughter and this one moment will change the trajectory of her future in the show irrevocably, she's really struggling to come to terms with that. She's taken another persons life and regardless of what that person's done, that doesn't sit easy with her."
