EMMERDALE’S Samantha Giles has revealed how she wanted Bernice Blackstock to “leave in a body bag” after she quit the show for the second time.
The actress’ character marched out of the Dales last November and jetted off to Australia after cancelling her wedding and breaking fiance Liam Cavanagh’s heart in the process.
However, the star now claims she wouldn’t have cared if show producers had killed her off.
Speaking to OK! Magazine, she said: “Emmerdale very kindly left the door open for me.
“I wouldn’t have minded if they’d killed me off, but they were lovely. They didn’t want me to leave but I got the urge.
“This departure is my second from the show – the first was after three years, then this stint was from 2012 to 2019. But I’m ready to move on.”
Samantha – who first joined the show in 1998 – added that she was “starting to feel a bit stifled” playing a comedy character, and wanted to explore different roles.
“It was very tiring,” she said of filming her final scenes. “It was full-on, filming all those emotional scenes. It really takes it out of you.
“It’s scary because as actors, regular work is the dream. But I want to play other roles. You get that creative itch, and I was starting to feel a bit stifled and I needed to move on.
“I got a bit frustrated because often when you’re playing a comedy character, you’re not going to get big, juicy storylines. I want to get my teeth into something.”
After she quit, Samantha revealed she left the soap because she had “itchy feet”.
Speaking on This Morning in November she said: “I just felt it was the right time, I’d been thinking about it for a couple of years.
“Like a lot of actors, I’ve got itchy feet and just thought, ‘I need a change and want to play something a bit more gritty’.
“I want to do other stuff. There’s so many things out there.”
Samantha announced her departure from Emmerdale in September.
Taking to Twitter, she said: “After 7 fabulous years I am shortly to be hanging up Bernice’s aprons and leaving the dales to pursue other creative projects.
“I will miss all the friends I’ve made on the show, but I’m very excited to be moving on to pastures new.”
Fans were devastated by the shock announcement and flocked to beg her to stay.
