Emmerdale Chas Dingle star updates on soap future amid 'daunting' new storyline

01 March 2024 , 12:22

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Chas Dingle star Lucy Pargeter sparked fears she might be making an exit from Emmerdale when it was revealed her character Chas will be diagnosed with breast cancer like her mother (Image: ITV)

Lucy Pargeter has dropped a hint about her future on Emmerdale amid Chas Dingle's cancer storyline.

Chas recently found a lump in her breast and after some investigations, it was revealed that she has breast cancer like her mum Faith Dingle. Lucy opened up about how the reaction has been to the important and sensitive storyline, as she admitted she has received lots of letters and responses from fans of the soap who are going through similar things.

Speaking about the reaction to the storyline, she revealed: "I've had a lot of responses online, which has been amazing. For the first time in a while it's been quite positive. I've had a lot of women reaching out to me saying you know, ‘I'm going through this myself or I have a family member that's going through this’, and that a lot of people can't watch the hospital scenes because it's quite triggering.

"But, a lot of people are just enjoying the quiet moments when she's on her own and when she's kind of like taking a breath. It's all those things that hit you personally that you don't show other people in your family."

The Dingles speak about Chas' cancer tonight to try and raise awareness

She added: "It’s the emotions behind the front that sometimes you can put on. So yeah, I've had a lot of beautiful, beautiful women reaching out and thanking me for kind of showing those little moments."

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Lucy didn't make any reference to an exit from the Dales for Chas when she discussed the initial meeting with producers. Whilst she didn't explain if her character might end up dying, she said her focus was on doing the storyline justice.

"It's a huge responsibility to take on. I remember last year, I had a meeting upstairs and Jane, who was our producer at the time, approached me and said we've got this coming up for you next year. I think the first thing you think is I want to, and I hope I can, do justice for the people who are actually suffering with breast cancer and all their families that are going through supporting them. So yeah, it was daunting. It was a massive responsibility, but hopefully, I'm doing it justice," she added.

Tonight, fans will see the Dingles chat about breast cancer to raise awareness and urge others to check their own breasts.

She said on Lorraine today: "So this evening's episode, you see all the Dingle ladies in the back room and we’re all just having that chat, you know that women should have and men should have to be quite honest with you, about checking yourself.

"We all know we should, we’ve all been told, we're all seeing these [Change + Check posters] all over the place. We're told constantly to check our breasts and how many of us actually do it? So it's just an open, frank, kind of [conversation], women talking with a bottle of wine about checking our breasts which is what we all should be doing really on a regular basis."

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Jasmine Allday