Former Emmerdale star Natalie Anderson has revealed that her character Alicia Metcalfe was part-inspired by Katie Price.
The ITV soap’s late producer Gavin Blyth wanted her to be similar to the former glamour model in many ways.
The Royal star, now 39, played the role from 2010 to 2015.
She was loved by fans as a racy flirt who was known to enjoy a good time.
With fake tan, hair extensions, and long nails, viewers couldn’t miss straight-to-the-point Alicia and many were sad to see her exit the show.
Natalie told The Sun that bosses thought it would be a great idea to bring a bit of the Pricey to the Dales.
(Image: ITV)
The actress said: “They said: ‘The heels need to be higher than high. The skirts need to be shorter than short. She needs to have attitude. She needs to be brash.
“‘We want that kind of aggressive almost, Katie Price, brash exterior, and then we’ll get to know her a bit later on.’
“I went: ‘Oh, I don’t think I can do this!’ – I think you do have to hit the ground running, and it was scary for me.”
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Natalie also addressed the inspiration behind the character during an appearance on the Soap From The Box podcast.
“I didn’t audition for my role, I knew Gavin Blyth. He was in the press department when I was working on The Royal, and Steve November, who was our producer on that,” she said.
“We kept in contact for a long time, and so this role came up, and he basically rang me and said: ‘Will you come into the office?’ So I went in on this Monday and he explained this girl to me.”
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The star explained how she worked closely with the make-up and wardrobe department to ensure Alicia looked ‘as extreme as possible’.
Since leaving Emmerdale, Natalie, has created and fronted The Capsule podcast series which features famous faces and experts giving wellbeing advice.
Emmerdale airs on on weeknights from 7pm on ITV, with previous episodes available on catch-up on ITV Hub
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
