Former Emmerdale star 'really hurt' by her death storyline

A former Emmerdale star has admitted that she was "really hurt" by the writers' decision to kill off her character. Charlie Hardwick, who plays Val Pollard in the popular soap for 11 years, was killed in a helicopter crash. Although she decided to leave the show, Charlie opened up about her reaction to her character's shock death to The Mirror, explaining: "I loved Emmerdale. It was my choice to leave. I have to say I was absolutely shocked when I found out they were going to kill Val."

© Photo: Rex

Charlie opened up about how her character was killed off

She continued: "I think when you spend most of your life addressed and behaving like somebody else, then you find out that they're going to savagely annihilate her – I was really hurt. I was upset on her behalf. It was as brutal as you can get. That'll teach us for saying time for me to go." Speaking about her friendships with her co-stars, she added: "I'm still in touch with my widowed husband Chris Chittell. We're good friends. I'm near my friends so I can hang out with them."

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© Photo: Rex

She was killed in a helicopter crash

Charlie is now playing one of the new members of staff in Channel 4's Ackley Bridge. The actress has taken on the role of director of pupil behaviour, Sup Cap, and stars alongside Downton Abbey and former Coronation Street star Rob James-Collier, who plays new deputy head Martin Evershed. Speaking about the show, she said: "I'm absolutely over the moon to be joining Ackley Bridge, I was already a fan. It has fantastic characters and brilliantly sharp story-telling which tackles the desires and concerns of a diverse school of young people and their community head on, in full-beam."

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"She is belligerent and unwilling, and instead of dedicating her time to the well-being and development of her teenage students, she appears to be solely concerned with counting down the next ten years to her retirement."