Emmerdale star Fiona Wade has spoken out about the difficult decision to leave as Priya Sharma's exit scenes were confirmed. The actress joined the ITV soap in 2011 and rumours began circulating last year that she had quit after nearly 12 years in the Dales.
New spoilers have now revealed what appears to be Priya's exit from the fictional Yorkshire village while actress Fiona has shared why now was the time to leave. In upcoming scenes, the character will find herself at the centre of a kidnapping plot.
Her ex David Metcalfe loses his cool after learning of her plan to relocate to London with their young daughter Amba after accepting a job from Justin who she met at a Take A Vow event, despite him also offering the job to her co-worker and friend, Leyla Cavanagh.
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Although it's been confirmed that Amba's disappearance leads to Priya calling the police, no further details are known as to how this ties into her departure. It comes after Priya's past trauma from being trapped in serial killer Meena Jutla's horror maze comes back to haunt her.
The moment stems from scenes in Take A Vow, when Priya is reminded of the maize maze when a veil goes up in flames from nearby candles during an event. Priya freezes in fear as the memories of that day she sustained terrible burn injuries comes rushing back and she flees.
Leyla is left to step in but later, Priya is left hurt by her friend's lack of support. The following day, Priya opens up to Take A Vow client Justin at the Hop about why she found the veil mishap so upsetting, prompting him to invite her for a coffee so they can talk further. Justin says how impressed he is with Priya and as they chat, he offers her a job with his company in London – the very same job he already offered Leyla.
The latter is left gutted and accuses Priya of sabotaging her dream of starting afresh away from Emmerdale. But Priya faces more problems as David crosses the line when he makes off with little Amba. When Priya realises what has happened, she panics, but David's son Jacob and father Eric Pollard both urge her not to call the police to report the disappearance of her daughter.
Meanwhile, it is discovered that David has fled and is hiding out in an anonymous cottage – but Leyla manages to track him down to try and talk some sense into him. But he's not willing to listen to reason, and in his continued madness, he locks Leyla in the bathroom at the cottage to stop her from calling the police.
Back in the village, at this point Priya loses patience waiting for David to do the right thing and dials 999 to report him. While the outcome is being kept quiet for now, it is confirmed that Priya will leave. "It was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make," Fiona said of leaving the soap, as reported by Digital Spy.
"Leaving my Emmerdale family is a big thing and it wasn't easy filming my last scenes. When you've been somewhere for that long and that's your every day, it's hard and feels sad. But as every actor knows, you need to challenge yourself and that's very important too."
She also went on to describe the ITV soap as a "gift of a job". The 43-year-old said: "There are so many blessings that come your way when you're in a show like Emmerdale. To be given a character that you can make yours, to have fantastic writers that enable you to grow in this amazing character. Plus, the friends you make and the experiences you have is invaluable."
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