'ELLA'S NEVER BEEN SO UNHINGED'

She's only been in the village for a few months, but it's already been a trying time for Emmerdale's Ella Forster - and it's about to get worse

- KIESHA DOSANJH

While initially introduced to the Dales as a caring GP’s receptionist, Ella Forster quickly became involved in one of the soap’s darkest plots yet when she revealed that she had brutally murdered her 11-yearold best friend Joanne as a child.

For actress Paula Lane – who took on the role of Ella after enjoying success on Coronation Street as Kylie Platt – it was a meaty storyline to get stuck into.

“Yeah, most people didn’t see that one coming,” she says. “I’ve had a few messages actually, via social media. All very positive on the acting front.”

However, it didn’t come without worry for Paula, 38, who has children Arthur and Penny with husband Tom Shaw. “I have to admit, when I was picking my kids up from school, I asked, ‘Was anything said today? Has anybody mentioned anything about Mummy?’ You do feel a bit ‘Oh, God’, this is challenging stuff.”

She adds, “I’m a mother. If somebody did that to my child, I would find it enormously difficult to forgive. That’s what’s brilliant about this storyline is that it does get you questioning it quite a lot.”