Emmerdale star Deena Payne has hinted that her character Viv Hope could soon make a huge return to the ITV soap – 11 years after her on-screen death.
And she could be bringing a rather unexpected co-star along for the ride.
Deena, 67, played Viv on-screen for an incredible 18 years, before her character – best known for her iconic relationship with husband Bob, short skirts and backcombed hair – was killed off in a fire in 2011 when the Post Office exploded.
Alongside her during the explosion was Terry Woods (Billy Hartman), one of Viv’s many love interests – and both were killed instantly in the blaze.
But with the firefighters unable to enter the building because of the ferocity of the flames, and Viv’s remains later carted back to Essex where she originally hailed from, fans didn’t see either of their bodies.
And in an exclusive interview with Daily Star, Deena has suggested the two could soon be back in the Dales – and that they never actually left.
(Image: ITV)
She explained: “You never know, do you? They never saw my body – in fact, they didn’t even put me in a graveyard in Emmerdale, they just sent my gubbins back down south – I don’t even know where they went!
“I would say that all this time, Viv and Terry have been in the woods, and they’ve survived in their way.”
Deena added: “Terry’s got a really long beard but no hair on the top and Viv has got quite long hair, and probably just as much hair on her chin as he has! And they would be a bit hippy-like. They would come back as real free hippies, that kind of thing.”
It wouldn’t be too much of a push, either – Deena has always stayed close to the TV world after leaving the soap, appearing on shows like Doctors and Crime Stories.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Terry actor Billy, meanwhile, has also had a variety of other roles – from various Casualty appearances to a part in 2019 drama Keeping Faith.
The actress admitted her on-screen ‘death’ was a “damp squib” – and explained that the Emmerdale bosses had at one point promised her a proper send-off.
She went on: “I didn’t get much of a script because Viv didn’t say anything when she died.
“When [soap bosses] said Viv has come to the end of her journey I was a bit surprised, because Viv’s always up to something. But I really enjoyed riding the wave, and everything comes to an end.
(Image: ITV)
“I had a chat to [then-Emmerdale producer] Steve November and he said, ‘We will write you out in a big storyline, and thank you for all that you’ve done.’
“But the producer at the time wasn’t very well, so maybe there was a storyline that was starting to be written… but in the end, there wasn’t one. It was a bit of a damp squib.
“I think everyone was surprised that after 18 years I went without a storyline – and there wasn’t one, not that I could find.”
But Deena’s ideal ending for Viv?
(Image: ITV)
“It would have had to have been with very short skirts and high heels, tottering off somewhere in a very dramatic way, probably shouting! I think, really, she would’ve got back with Bob, because the scenes we did were so much fun and that’s where all the comedy was for us,” she said.
“The [writers] thought of so many ridiculous things for Bob and Viv, but they were tragic as well as funny.”
Deena admitted she still gets recognised when out in public – though people don’t immediately place her.
She said: “People do recognise me – I still live up in Yorkshire. I was a right southerner right up until I got offered Emmerdale, and never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever live up here.
“But people just know me so well here. They kind of recognise you and act familiar; sometimes people say, ‘Weren’t you at the same school as me?’ or ‘Didn’t you work at Boots with me?’
“It’s really difficult because you don’t want to say, ‘Well I played Viv on Emmerdale! I look a bit older – I am 67 now – but people do still recognise me, especially as classic Emmerdale is on now.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
