'I'M OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE'

CHARLEY WEBB ON TREADING THE BOARDS WITH CO-STAR LEWIS REEVES, PARENT GUILT AND SOCIAL MEDIA HATERS

-  MITYA UNDERWOOD

Since Charley Webb left Emmerdale after almost two decades of playing the Dales’ feisty Debbie Dingle, fans have been eager to see her back on our screens. 

But while the 35-year-old, who joined the soap aged 14, will appear in forthcoming ITV drama The Long Shadow, which is about the victims of the Yorkshire Ripper, it’s her foray into theatreland that is causing huge excitement.

When we meet for our photoshoot in the decadent Oscar Wilde Room at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London, Charley is in the midst of the final rehearsals for her first major stage show since deciding to step away from soap land. The play, called Quiz, is a semi-fictional dramatisation of the infamous Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? coughing scandal. It starts this week in Chichester, West Sussex, before heading off on a nationwide tour that ends in December.

As a busy mum-of-three, Charley’s clearly adept at multitasking, and while she’s being preened by our hair and make-up team, she squeezes in some last-minute line-learning with her Quiz co-star Lewis Reeves (I May Destroy You, Unforgotten), also 35, who has joined us.

Lewis plays the role of Major Charles Ingram, who was denied his winnings following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. Charley stars as his wife, Diana.

It’s a significant gear change for the award-winning actress, who shares sons Buster, 13, Bowie, seven, and Ace, four, with her husband and former Emmerdale co-star Matthew Wolfenden. But with the boys all at school now back home in North Yorkshire, she’s thrilled to be out of her comfort zone, alongside Lewis.