Emmerdale star Jane Cox is looking back on nearly a quarter-century of playing Lisa Dingle as she says goodbye to the character.
The ITV soap aired heart-wrenching scenes in Thursday night's (June 6) episode as the Dingle family gathered together to lay Lisa to rest, following her death late last month.
Following the episode, Emmerdale released a behind-the-scenes video documenting Jane Cox's final days on set, and featuring her recollections about the playing the character since 1996.
"Saying goodbye to Lisa is very hard," she admitted while fighting back tears. "It is very hard to say goodbye to her, but I know it's the best thing."
The actress went on: "There would be no way that she could come and go, and for me, it's probably best to say, 'Right, that's it. That's the end of that.' I will miss everybody and I really value the audience most of all because that's who we're doing it for.
"It's been fantastic for me, to have that opportunity to reach out to loads of people with hopefully helpful things."
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Following transmission of her character Lisa's death last month, Jane opened up to This Morning about her hopes for the future.
"Oh, I'm open to doing some acting, but not a serial drama," the actress said. "Because it doesn't allow you the time to perhaps do other bits and pieces. I bake bread now and make jam, and make wine from our apple trees. I enjoy doing that kind of thing."
She went on: "I like to write. I don't finish things very well but I've got some ideas for a book that I've started. And a couple of films that I've been working on for years, that I've never brought to fruition. I'm at a good place to do that now, I think."
Emmerdale currently airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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