Shila Iqbal, who played Aisha Richards on Emmerdale, was fired last week
Former Emmerdale star Shila Iqbal has said she shouldn't have been sacked from the ITV soap after her racist and homophobic tweets resurfaced from 2012.
Last week, shortly after Shila's tweets from six years ago came to light, a spokesperson from Emmerdale confirmed she had been axed from the show. The 24-year-old star apologised for the "inappropriate language" used but has now spoken out and questioned whether she should have been fired from a mistake she made during her teenage years.
Check out: Everything that will happen in Emmerdale next week - including Eric Pollard's car crash horror
emmerdale spoilers: week 18 slider
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With Eliza in the back seat and running late to her lunch date with Frank, a frazzled Megan sends a text to assure him she's on her way.
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But looking away from the road for just a moment while she texts has Megan careering into a car ahead in the road.
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In the collision, Pollard, who has been crossing the road, is thrown down into the road.
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Meanwhile, Faith has been moaning to anyone who will listen about how neglected she's been feeling recently.
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As she confides in Bear over a bottle of wine, Bear is only too happy to be a source of comfort for Faith.
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Feeling valued by Bear after Pollard's dismissive behaviour toward her, will Faith be able to resist when Bear makes a move?
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Following the collision with Megan's car, Faith is stunned out of her reverie when she hears that Pollard is in hospital, and rushes to see him.
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Gathered round his bed in A&E, Faith, Chas and David are all panicked when Pollard, who had seemed stable, suddenly slumps and falls unconcious.
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Yelling for the nurse, there's nothing the family can do as Pollard is wheeled away into emergency surgery.
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At the vets, Kirk and Vanessa are unconvinced when Rhona tells them Jamie Tate is one of the days potential employees.
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Despite Rhona's best efforts to convince them that Jamie would be an asset, she's left eating her words when Jamie doesn't show up for his interview slot.
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But Jamie has also been involved in the collision from Megan's texting, that saw Pollard end up in hospital.
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Jamie sends a text to Rhona assuring he's still interested in the post, leaving Rhona to explain to Kim all she knows.
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Later on, when Jamie turns up at Home Farm demanding his car keys from Kim in the wake of the crash, Kim plays dumb.
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Insisting she doesn't know where they are, Kim promises to help Jamie look for them – but really, she just wants to spend more time with him.
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Frank is disappointed when Megan doesn't show up for lunch, and decides to check in on her.
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Arriving in the village to carnage of the collision, Frank's disappointment turns to concern when he finds Megan and Eliza still in shock.
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Reeling from her guilt, Megan is close to tears as she surveys the damage caused by her own actions.
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Elsewhere, Dawn is conflicted as Will tells her he wants to take his harassment of Dawn up a level – but Dawn has arranged another meeting with social services about Lucas.
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Desperate to show Will he can trust her, Dawn asks him what she can do to prove her loyalties. How far will she go to convince him?
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Later on, Will grows even more suspicious when he sees Dawn and Harriet hugging in the street.
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But Dawn is insistent that she's only using Harriet to get to Lucas. Will he believe her?
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Nicola confides in Bernice that she's not feeling confident competing against Hilary and Harry in the elections.
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As votes are counted, her campaign team find her at the Woolpack drowning her sorrows, convinced she's already lost.
Speaking on This Morning, she spoke about the moment she found out she no longer had a role on the show: "I got pulled in by the producers and shown some tweets that I had sent six or seven years ago.
"I was shocked to see that I had wrote those words. I do [remember them now] but I was shocked that it was me because I don’t use those words anymore. Half an hour later I got called back and told that they wouldn’t be renewing my contract anymore.
"I just felt like I was dreaming. Those words, I do not condone the use of them...of course I knew it was completely wrong for me to do so."
Shila went on explain the reason behind the offensive tweets, telling Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: "I think at the time there was no malicious intent behind the tweets. It was a conversation, banter in a way, between my friends.
"It was heavily influenced by the hip hop and rap music we listened to and our surroundings, that helped determined the language we used.
"We did use it freely, although wrongly, very wrongly...I don’t think I understood the true meanings behind them and the implications and the hurt that those words would cause."
The actress went on to question whether a mistake she made in the past should impact her future, admitting: "To be honest, I think if the person has changed and shown remorse then no, you shouldn’t be judged on that, you should be judged on the person you are today."
She added: "ITV have a moral obligation to do what’s right by the public and I respect their decision...but I do question, it is it fair that I am being judged by something I did as a teenager?
"If you look at the context...there was no negative intention behind it. I wasn’t hurling abuse at anyone. I made a mistake. That’s not who I am."
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Shila isn't the only soap star to recently cause a little controversy, last week Emmerdale fans wanted Danny Miller - aka Aaron Livesy - sacked after he went on a foul-mouthed rant about viewers on social media.
EastEnders actor Danny Walters, who plays Keanu Taylor, has also apologised after offensive tweets from his past resurfaced. In the now-deleted tweets he used homophobic insults during a conversation to one of his friends.
Danny released a statement, saying: "I am very sorry for posting these immature comments to a friend when I was 19 years old. It's not language I would ever use now and I'd like to apologise to anyone I've offended."