Emmerdale stars’ real life health battles – chronic UTI to excruciating pain

Emmerdale has been full of drama after a shock heart attack left Bob Hope in hospital.

The Dales regular, played by Tony Audenshaw, fell ill after spotting his partner Wendy (Susan Cookson) with Liam (Jonny McPherson), who she has been having a fling with.

Bob and Liam came to blows and the altercation caused Bob to suffer a heart attack.

READ MORE: Emmerdale’s Rosie Bentham and Daisy Campbell wow in plunging bikinis on sun-soaked trip

Thankfully he pulled through, leaving fans gripped by the tense scenes breathing a sigh of relief.

Sadly it isn’t just the Emmerdale characters dealing with health problems, with several cast members battling medical issues in real life too.

Adam Thomas

Adam, best known as Adam Barton in the ITV soap, recently shared that he had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints.

“I’ve been in a lot of pain since January, it started with my knees and then travelled to my wrists, fingers and now ankles and toes,” the 35-year-old told fans on Instagram.

“I never knew what was happening and finally after several blood tests and back and forth to doctors and hospitals, I’ve been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.”

The actor has signed up for Strictly this year and told fans it “couldn’t have come at a better time” and that he decided to do the BBC ballroom contest “because I just want to be able to move again, get fit and do it all with a smile on my face”.

Claire King

Kim Tate actress Claire, 61, also has rheumatoid arthritis.

She was diagnosed when she was in her 20s and has previously spoken out about her struggles with the condition.

In 2020, she told OK! magazine: “When I get a flare up, it’s not nice and it does make you feel very tired.

“If I’m on location in winter, the cold feels like it gets to your bones.

“Often people don’t see it as an issue because you aren’t in a wheelchair or limping, but they look after me on the show and give me more indoor scenes during winter.”

Martelle Edinborough

Earlier this year Martelle revealed she’d had an operation for a brain aneurysm.

The actress, best known for playing Suzy Merton in the soap, told fans on Twitter: “A few weeks ago I was told an existing brain aneurysm thought to always be tiny and stable had in fact always been of a size that needed treatment.

“Not sure where the error occurred for it to take so long to highlight this but despite the initial shock, I could only receive it as a blessing and refused to allow it manifest into fear, stress and anxiety.”

Martelle said she had surgery and doctors “were able to amazingly and successfully treat the aneurysm, placing a flow diverter in the artery to cut the off the blood supply to it, soon enabling it disappear for good”.

Gemma Oaten

Last year Gemma told fans she had something called milk alkali syndrome.

The star, 39, shared on Instagram that she’d gone to hospital with “excruciating chest, stomach and back pains”.

Gemma, who used to play Rachel Breckle in the soap, said she was then told she had milk alkali syndrome, which happens when you have high levels of calcium in your blood.

She said “in rare and severe cases (like mine)” the illness could lead to kidney failure or even be fatal.

The star later told her followers that the experience made her “re-evaluate time”.

“It’s made me look at myself and it has forced me to reset,” she said.

“It’s been hell, yet I have found something I have been searching for in what feels like forever. Calm and clarity.”

Samantha Giles

Samantha, who has played Bernice Blackstock for more than two decades, has shared that she suffered a painful health issue in her 40s.

The star, 52, had a chronic urinary tract infection which lasted for two years.

“I had an embedded infection and it was scary,” she told the Mirror.

“You are frightened of going to the shops or going out because you are constantly thinking about when you are going to need to use the toilet. It’s depressing.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk