The Emmerdale favourite admitted there’s one scene in particular that she can’t watch back, as she reflected on her 16 years on the ITV soap so far
Emmerdale’s Moira Dingle actress Natalie J. Robb has opened up about her character’s time on the soap, and why she can’t watch back a particular scene. Natalie, 50, joined the ITV drama back in 2009 as part of a new farming family, the Bartons, following appearances in the likes of EastEnders, Holby City and Taggart and The Bill.
Her character’s early storylines mostly revolved around her marriage to childhood sweetheart, John Barton (James Thornton), and their three children, before things fell apart.
Over time, financial worries and emotional distance drove a wedge between the pair, and Moira then began an affair with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), which John discovered after Cain taunted him about it.
After John asked Moira to leave, the pair later rekindled before tragedy struck and a car accident took John’s life while Moira survived.
Natalie’s character went on to marry Cain in 2014, and despite his recent betrayal and a brief split, they remain together currently.
Reflecting on her change-up of partners in Emmerdale, the actress admitted she still can’t watch back her first raunchy scenes with Jeff.
Sharing her initial reaction to their affair storyline, Natalie said it was “a shock” at first to both her and her now on-screen husband.
“I could see Jeff’s face just kind of like, blank, you know, he’s not the best one for change,” she said in a chat with Matthew Rolland on his Isolation Interviews YouTube Channel.
“He had been there a very long time, and I didn’t particularly know Jeff that well at this point,” she continued.
“And I was still a newbie, very much a newbie in terms of Emmerdale, in the scale of things then.
“I just thought, ‘Okay, right, but that is the job,’ but then I thought, ‘What’s he [the producer] seeing? Where’s that come from?'”.
Natalie went on to say at the time she was “really enjoying working with James” and added: “It’s like you have a weird loyalty to your characters as well.”
Remembering the first time she and Jeff had to kiss, she continued: “I couldn’t even watch it now, it makes me go red.
“It’s quite raunchy and for it’s time, you just think, ‘Oh my goodness’. Somebody sent me it a few years ago and I got really embarrassed.
“I literally blushed, so I kind of don’t… I suppose when you see it on screen it doesn’t feel like that when you’re doing it.
“No offence Jeff,” she laughed. “But it doesn’t, it’s like very technical and stuff like that, but when you see it on screen it’s like [shocking].”
Natalie went on to say she has since enjoyed the way Moira and Cain have evolved as a couple through their ups and downs.
Addressing their on-screen future, she continued: “Yes, I would [like to see them be together forever]. I’d like to see a marriage work, but no marriage is perfect and that’s [the] reality.”
Sharing how they portray a real-life couple, Natalie said the pair add in “loads of little bits and bobs” to their scenes, which “makes it more believable as a marriage”.
“It clicks, we work well together because of it, but it’s nice to know that some marriages do survive, even though they have some terrible times and hardships to deal with,” she added.
Away from scenes with Jeff, Natalie also admitted that she’d like to see Moira “join forces with Kim Tate” for a dramatic storyline in the future, and tackle current issues such as tenant farming.
“It would be nice to see them come together somehow as a team, but not for long,” she added, laughing.
Emmerdale continues tonight at 7.30pm on ITV and ITVX.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
