Emmerdale Charity star's real life from marriage confession to hiding pregnancy
Despite being one of Emmerdale 's most iconic actresses, Emma Atkins couldn’t be less like her character in real life.
Charity Dingle is known for her raunchy ways on screen and while Emma may look and sound like her the similarities stop there.
The 48-year-old soap star has played Charity Dingle across two turbulent stints.
She first arrived on the ITV show in 2000 and the Woolpack owner continues to be at the centre of the action.
The popular actress’ role as Charity was her first as she was still in the final year of her performing arts degree at Salford University when she got the offer.
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Emma, who worked as a designer for three years before saving up the money to follow her acting dreams, found it "quite bizarre" to suddenly be playing a sex worker in an iconic soap.
Emma Atkins appeared on Loose Women this week (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Doesn't mingle with Dingles
"I just thought: 'How can I play a Dingle?' If you know me you would understand that as I am so far removed from my character," she explained to the Daily Record in 2001.
"But the more she told me the more I thought I would enjoy it, and so I went to the audition, so nervous that I can't remember a thing about it, and thought I wouldn't get it."
Charity tied the knot with Mackenzie Boyd in the most dramatic of circumstances this week. The character's big day was derailed when she decided to by Mackenzie an A-team van as a wedding present.
This caused problems as the van had been involved in a robbery and PC Swirling arrested the couple for the crime. However, they were eventually released and overcame the obstacles to tie the knot in Thursday's episode.
Emma appeared on Loose Women earlier this week and was taken aback as she discovered it was the eighth time her on-screen counterpart had been married. However, she was in hysterics as she made an admission on her own love life when she explained how she couldn't be more different to her character.
Never been married
She told the panel: "Charity has been married eight times, I've never been married. She's a bada**, I'm really nice. I struggle to ever defend the character whenever I do interviews."
Away from the fictional Yorkshire village, Emma has been in a happy long term relationship with her partner, Tom, for many years and they welcomed a son into the world named Albert just before her 40th birthday.
After her first audition, Emma was recalled for a screen test with Marlon Dingle actor Mark Charnock, then faced an agonising two-week wait until her agent confirmed the great news.
Things could have been very different, as acclaimed actress Suranne Jones auditioned for the role, but Emma was cast and her rival went on to play Karen McDonald in Coronation Street.
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Emma Atkins when she first arrived in Emmerdale (Daily Mirror)Charity first arrived in the Dales for her cousin Butch’s funeral in February 2000 - and was immediately thrown into an explosive storyline as it emerged she was working as a prostitute and there was a warrant out for her arrest.
Despite being completely different to her alter-ego, Emma has refused to say bad things about Charity.
"Oh, I can't slag her off, can I?" she said in 2001. "I have to say that her tiny little skirts and skimpy outfits are not my cup of tea, but it's hardly a problem.
"She's a brilliant character to play, she's a character of substance. She's a b****, yes, but you can tell that there are different sides to her that we have yet to see and I hope I can stay in the show for a long time to come.
"I love playing her this way at the moment - very ballsy, very argumentative and, of course, very flirty.
"It's not bad for a first job. I had only done two adverts before Emmerdale - one of them was never shown and the other was an awful Christmas hamper thing. Dreadful."
Charity had an affair with her husband's sister (Yorkshire Television)
Charity was framed for the murder of Chris Tate (Yorkshire Television)Emma found it completely strange to go from a student to suddenly being recognised in the street almost overnight.
"That is really bizarre. It'll never be normal," she said. "People think they know you, and I was like that when I used to see famous people - wanting to go up to them and say 'hello'. But there are those who go that bit further, too, and grab you.
"My mum and I were in an airport in Spain once and this woman came running up top me, grabbed me, told me she loved the show, loved Charity, and I just didn't know what to do, except sort of say 'hi, thanks'. My mum was laughing so much and I was mortified."
Framed for murder
Charity’s initial five-year reign included her marriage to millionaire Chris Tate, an affair with his sister Zoe and her cousin Cain and being framed for Chris’ murder.
Then in 2004 Emma decided to quit the role as it was "time to move on", stating: "I will be desperately sad to say goodbye to everyone but there are so many other roles that I would like to try and it's important to me that Charity leaves on a high," she said.
While away she appeared in Doctors, Dalziel and Pascoe, Heartbeat and Casualty, but four years later returned to Emmerdale in Charity's blaze of controversy.
"Charity is a wonderfully complex character and an absolute joy to play. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to explore a new era of Charity, Cain and Debbie and will relish seeing what she’s been up to since we saw her last," said the actress.
Emma with her on-screen daughter Charley Webb (Instagram)The only other time Emma has left the soap has been for maternity leave in 2015.
Emma, who has been in a relationship with her long-term partner Tom for many years, welcomed their son, Albert, shortly after announcing her pregnancy.
"We've had a lovely healthy baby boy. He arrived just before my 40th birthday, which was the best present. I’m so delighted," she revealed.
The actress lives in a gorgeous Yorkshire home with her family and their adorable dog - and has to balance being a mum with her Emmerdale job.
"I was trying to learn my lines yesterday and Albert was really grabbing everything! It was so messy. But I have managed to balance it – I don’t know how," she told OK! magazine.
While she was pregnant, Emma had to hide her pregnancy because it would have ruined an explosive storyline.
Because of Emma's maternity leave, Charity was written out of the soap after receiving a prison sentence for perverting the course of justice.
But bosses didn't want viewers to know she was going, so they kept the pregnancy a secret to stop them knowing Charity was going to be found guilty at her court case.
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