Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick has promised that Vanessa Woodfield and Charity Dingle will make it through their relationship crisis next week.
Vanessa starts to drift apart from Charity (Emma Atkins) in upcoming episodes, as her illness drives a wedge between them.
Vanessa was diagnosed with bowel cancer a few weeks ago and Charity is trying her best to support her in any way possible. However, in true Charity style, she hasn't always taken the right approach.
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Speaking about the ongoing storyline, Michelle explained: "This is a huge thing that Vanessa is going through. She's scared and vulnerable. It's come out of the blue and she doesn't know the outcome.
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"Charity is doing her best for Vanessa, but she feels quite smothered by it all. There'll be a way to go with this story."
She continued: "Charity is scared of Vanessa dying. Vanessa is struggling to come to terms with her own mortality. It just results in conflict between them both.
"Charity is doing her best in a 'Charity' way, but it's beyond her control and she can't fix it. She's scared of losing this person, who she genuinely loves."
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Next week's episodes see Vanessa turn to her best friend Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) for support instead. The pair go out for drinks together, but quickly find themselves in trouble at a Student Union bar.
Michelle laughed: "It's not a boozy night out – it's during the day! It's Rhona's birthday and she pops round to see how Vanessa is doing. Vanessa needs to get out of the house, as it's all got on top of her with Charity.
"Vanessa wants a bit of normality – a bit of what she had in the old days. Vanessa tells Rhona that she just wants to experience what they used to do, as they always used to go out for a few drinks on Rhona's birthday.
"They end up going to the Student Union bar they used to go to. Vanessa's having a few drinks and they see this young lad. Vanessa starts playing pool against him and it's all quite fun and light-hearted.
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"But all of a sudden, this lad spots this bum bag that's on Vanessa. He teases her about it, asking if they're back in the '80s, but it's got Vanessa's chemo medication in. It hits Vanessa and it brings her back to reality over what she's going through.
"She throws a drink over this lad, it gets filmed and it's all over the internet."
Charity is startled to see the footage of Vanessa, but comes to understand that she just needed an escape for an afternoon.
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Michelle explained: "They are fine, but Charity says: 'Next time you want to go on a bender, come with me'. Vanessa feels guilty when she sobers up, but you can't blame her with everything she's going through.
"She just wanted that one blow-out, she needed to escape just for that day. I don't think she's craving to do that again, and I don't think she's well enough anyway.
"Vanessa and Charity have been through a lot together, but nothing on as big a scale as this. I think they will get through it. They do love each other.
"Obviously there's going to be bumps along the way because it's Charity and Vanessa and it's Emmerdale! I don't know the outcome of their relationship, but I personally think they would get through it together."
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Other spoilers for next week have revealed that Vanessa asks Charity a huge question, which knocks her for six. The show hasn't yet confirmed the exact details of what Vanessa has been thinking about.
However, Michelle said: "I personally think she is massively justified asking Charity this question, because she's got no idea what's going to happen to herself in the future.
"She needs to make sure that everything that she's going to leave behind is in place and everything very dear to her will be well-cared-for. It's a very sensible thing for her to do."
Emmerdale currently airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7pm on ITV.
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