Emmerdale Charity actress' life away from fame from family life to hidden talent

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Inside Emma Atkins
Inside Emma Atkins' life (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Emma Atkins has risen to fame over the years playing the villainous Charity Dingle on Emmerdale.

However, thankfully it seems that the 48-year-old is completely different from her character, and lives a relatively normal life away from the screen. The actress is best known for playing a character who is full of mischief and often finds herself in trouble, but Emma is the polar opposite of her alter-ego.

Emma lives a much quieter life away from the Dales and tends to leave all of her drama for the filming studio. Over the years she has become a staple on our screens as she has been the centre of plenty of big storylines. She first appeared in Emmerdale in 2000, but what does she do away from the screen?

Emmerdale Charity actress' life away from fame from family life to hidden talent tdiqtiekikrinvEmma found fame on Emmerdale (ITV)

Family life

Despite Charity being married eight times while on the show, actress Emma has never been married in real life. Speaking about this tidbit of information on Loose Women, Emma said: "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."

Despite this, Emma is in a long-term relationship with her partner Tom and they welcomed a son named Albert just before her 40th birthday. The actress currently lives at home In Yorkshire with Tom, Albert, and their family dog .

EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likenessEastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness
Emmerdale Charity actress' life away from fame from family life to hidden talentEmma has a family dog (Instagram)

Finding fame

Emma was in university when she moved into the world of showbiz. She was in her final year at Salford University when was offered the role of Charity in 2000. Before this she worked as a designer for three years to save enough money to pursue her acting career. She admitted that at the time she thought it was bizarre that she was swapping her studies to play a sex worker on screen.

Speaking to the Daily Record in 2001 she said she was "so far removed" from her character. She explained: "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. 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."

In 2004 Emma thought it was time to say goodbye to Charity Dingle as she took a four year break where she worked on other shows such as Doctors, Dalziel and Pascoe, Heartbeat and Casualty. However, it wasn't long until she returned in 2008 and hasn't been away again since – apart from taking maternity leave in 2015.

Emmerdale Charity actress' life away from fame from family life to hidden talentEmma's hobby is photography (Instagram)

Hidden talent

Taking a look at Emma's Instagram shows that she has a hidden talent of her own. She is quite the photographer, often sharing nature snaps from walks she's been on. She tends to share photos from around her Yorkshire home as she take advantage of the beautiful part of the world she lives in.

It's clear her fans enjoy her photos as she boasts an impressive 176,000 followers on the social media platform.

Charlotte Everett

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