Emmerdale legend Charlie Hardwick has opened up about her character Val Pollard’s brutal exit, four years after leaving the show
Having played the acid-tongued Val for 11 years, Charlie admitted that her gnarly killing off was “hurtful” and “a shock”.
Viewers were left reeling from Val’s gruesome death in August 2015, when she was impaled by a shard of glass from the dramatic helicopter crash, which also took the life of Ruby Haswell.
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Victoria is at the Woolpack with friends when she's followed to the loos by a woman who turns out to be Lee's mum, Wendy. Cornering her as she washes her hands, Wendy confronts Victoria about the "lies" she's been spreading about Lee (who's played by a convicted GHB supplier) raping her.
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Clearly shaken, Victoria tries to stand up for herself by challenging Wendy, but Wendy is convinced of Lee's innocence. The next day outside Mill cottage Victoria is horrified to see Lee and Wendy approaching.
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With Victoria rooted to the spot in shock, Lee accuses her of posting the flyers around the village, which he was sacked from his job for, and Amy can't hide her anger.
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Having heard about the commotion, Robert arrives at the scene and has to be restrained from punching Lee, who is still insisting they're lying about him.
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Lee and Wendy force themselves into Mill Cottage, and trying to get away, Victoria falls up the stairs. A concerned Diane let's slip that Victoria's pregnant, stunning Lee and his mum.
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Pollard loses his temper when he catches Faith and Bear in what he thinks is an intimate exchange. When Bear puts on a wrestling match for Paddy's birthday, a furious Pollard challenges him to a fight, and Faith has to intervene.
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Faith manages to work out that Pollard thinks she's been unfaithful, and when she comes home to find Pollard and David piling bags of his belongings onto the doorstep, she's heartbroken.
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Determined to show Pollard what he's losing, Faith dresses up in her most glamorous outfits and prepares to head to the Woolpack. Finding Pollard propping up the bar, will her seduction do the trick?
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Meanwhile, Doug and Brenda are having troubles of their own. When Doug gets caught up in the football at the pub and forgets all about their date night, a dressed up Brenda shows up at the pub, fuming.
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Later on Doug is determined to make it up to her, but in his enthusiasm to please her ends up doing his back in, and has to go to A&E! Brenda will have to forgive him now, right?
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David is still desperately trying to win Jacob round, especially when he hears that Jacob has been hanging around the police station, eager to see Maya. But things turn nasty when Jacob and Pollard turn up at the shop and Jacob ends up storming out.
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David despairs, but Pollard tells him not to give up and that Jacob will come round eventually. Struck by an idea, David decides the best way to reach Jacob is in his own language, and sets up an anonymous gaming account to search for Jacob's profile.
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A giddy Sam and Lydia decide to streak across Home Farm Field for a lark. But little do they know they're being watched – by Megan and Priya, who have caught sight of them from afar.
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After Lisa's heartbreaking death, Zak struggles to know what to do with her ashes as he's comforted by Lydia and Sam.
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Jessie is at the Woolpack when she receives a distressing call from the police, who tell her than some human baby bones have been discovered at the site of the school.
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After a tough few weeks the family is rocked by yet more drama, and a weary Jessie prepared for another police conference as she tries her best to help.
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Meanwhile at the station, DI Bradwell shows a colleague a picture of the most likely candidate for the baby's mother – a teenager called Jenny Finn, who looks suspiciously like one of the villagers.
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A troubled Dawn arrives back at Woodbine Cottage to overhear Harriet telling Laurel how much Dawn means to her now. Dawn is touched.
Lest we forget, Val was trapped in the hall of mirrors during a summer fete, and when the helicopter exploded, a shard of glass impaled her, killing the character instantly.
“I loved Emmerdale. It was my choice to leave,” she told The Mirror. “I have to say I was absolutely shocked when I found out they were going to kill Val.
"I think when you spend most of your life addressed and behaving like somebody else, then you find out that they're going to savagely annihilate her – I was really hurt."
"I was upset on her behalf. It was as brutal as you can get. That'll teach us for saying time for me to go."
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Val first arrived in Emmerdale in 2004 as the troublesome younger sister of Diane Sugden, but quickly cemented herself as regular character with her straight talking and scathing one-liners.
Charlie has since returned to the soap as a ghost on a few occasions – but last year admitted she would love to return full time.
"I kind of thought at the end of Emmerdale that my dance was done, but no, that little bit came back when I was on Emmerdale last Christmas," she said, referring the ghost dream scenes.
"I thought, 'You know what? I like this'. If you pitch the story, I would be there in a shot."
Sadly, with Val’s death being detailed on screen for all to see, it’s unlikely her character would be reinstated. But we’ll always have the mems.
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