Leeds-born Coronation Street star Alexandra Mardell has long been a fan favourite.
The character, hairdresser Emma Brooker, was in instant hit with fans of the ITV soap when she arrived in Weatherfield back in 2018. We have watched her endure turbulent times on the street, taking centre stage of many memorable storylines - from discovering Steve McDonald is her biological dad to Curtis Delamere and his make-believe heart condition.
Emma was set to wed Curtis last year, however, their romance took a nose dive when she discovered he has been lying about his life-threatening condition. And her troubles only escalated when she attended a boozy New Year's Eve party in a bid to get over the relationship.
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Her friend Faye Windass picked her up from the party but things took a dramatic turn for the worse when they hit an elderly man named Ted on the way home. Initially it seemed Ted was unharmed but they later found out he had died, which is when they roped in PC Craig Tinker to help cover their tracks.
Emma has since become romantically involved with Ted's grandson, Jon. She later tried to distance herself from him after he declared his love for her. Later, Jon recognised Craig at Emma's flat which led to Emma confessing the truth about her involvement in his grandfathers death this week.
Eventually Jon forgave Emma and she accepted his offer to move to Australia and start a new life together as actress Alexandra bid farewell to the cobbles. Thankfully, Alexandra's life away from the cameras is not nearly as dramatic as her on-screen alter ego.
The 28-year-old actress recently got engaged to her long-term partner and fellow actor Joe Parker, who is best recognised for his role as Archie Campbell in Doctors.
Alexandra and Joe moved in together and the start of 2020 and later got engaged in April 2021. Joe had originally planned to pop the question in Paris but when coronavirus restrictions disrupted his plans he asked Alexandra to marry him in their kitchen following a romantic meal instead.
In an interview with OK! Alexandra revealed: "We’d finished dinner and were dancing to some Italian music. We started talking about how we’ve been really lucky in lockdown to have had such a nice time together when Joe disappeared.
"I thought he was going to the toilet, so I started doing the washing up. When he came back he told me to leave the pans and asked me to dance again. Next thing I know he was down on one knee.
“I’m so excited, I think it’ll be lovely. It’ll be weird and nice to have the same name and to be able to call Joe my husband. I keep calling myself “Future Mrs Parker”. It sounds so mature."
The Leeds-born actress has opened up in the past about her heart condition - she has a septal defect, which means she has a hole in her heart. It is a form of congenital heart disease, where there is a gap between two of the heart’s chambers and Emma said she sometimes has difficulty breathing due to her condition.
She previously told the Mirror: “I’ve been told that everyone is born with it and it’s meant to close up within the first year. In some cases, like mine, it doesn’t and that can cause problems. I sometimes get palpitations and difficulty with breathing. I have always had issues with my breathing when exercising, but I always thought that was just my general lack of fitness. It’s nice in a way to have a little bit of an excuse.
“Luckily, it hasn’t caused me any major problems so far. I need check-ups every five years and if there are issues in the future it’s something they are able to close up."
Sadly, Alexandra found out about her heart defect under tragic circumstances. Her dad, Michael, died at the age of 54 due to an undiagnosed heart condition. Michael was suffering from cardiomypathy, which stops the heart pumping blood effectively around the body.
As cardiomypathy can be hereditary, Alexandra was advised to get tested but found out she does not suffer with the condition. The actress was close to her father, who was a former semi professonial footballer, despite the fact her parents separated when she was young.
She said: “I was very much a Daddy’s girl. When my brother got older, a lot of the time it was just me and my dad, which is why we were so close.”
Alexandra was able to channel her experience of loosing her father into her work when her on-screen persona was grieving the sudden death of her father around a similar time. She said: "It was a coincidence, but because I planned a lot of my dad’s funeral myself, with the support of family and friends, I was able to grieve properly, so thankfully the storyline hasn’t negatively affected me.
“My experience has helped with my performance, because it’s meant I’ve been able to relate to the storyline – I know exactly how Emma is feeling."
Alexandra confirmed she was leaving Coronation Street earlier this year. However, during a recent appearance on This Morning the soap star told hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary that she had made her decision a year ago.
She also confessed she was delighted over the manner of her exit as Emma hasn't been killed off, which leaves the door open for her to one day return to Weatherfield. She said: "That was a relief. I'm happy about that."
While on Coronation Street, Alexandra has won a British Soap Award for Best Newcomer and has called her time on the soap "the best experience of my life."
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