Emmerdale welcomed back a familiar face on its latest episode of Emmerdale Family Trees tonight as Strictly Come Dancing champion Kelvin Fletcher returned to reflect on the iconic Sugden family.
Before leaving the ITV soap in 2016, Kelvin had played the role of Andy Sugden for 20 years, having first appeared on the show in 1996.
With a soap tenure as long as that one under his belt, Kelvin was well-placed to look back on many of the Sugdens' biggest storylines over the years, but it was Katie Sugden's (Sammy Winward) shock death in 2015 that the actor recalled being "gutted" about.
"When I found out that Katie was going to be killed off, I was gutted," Kelvin recalled. "The Powers That Be thought, 'Katie and Andy are not meant to be together!'"
Katie's exit aired in 2015 after she'd managed to secure proof of Robert's (Ryan Hawley) affair with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller), and her death came after years of sibling rivalry, love triangles and drama between Katie, Andy and Andy's brother Robert.
"It was quite hard to play dead, because I wanted to cry as well," Sammy added in the programme. "And as soon as they said cut, that was it – that was my last scene ever."
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But while Kelvin admitted that he was gutted by Katie's on-screen death, it was the real-life passing of soap legend Clive Hornby that Kelvin remembered as the "saddest day" of his Emmerdale career.
Clive played the role of Jack Sugden on the ITV soap for 28 years before he passed away in 2008, and Kelvin paid tribute to the actor on tonight's (September 3) programme.
"I remember getting the call from the producer at the time, informing me of Clive's passing and it was the saddest day of my Emmerdale career," he said.
"This was somebody I'd look up to as an actor and, in many ways, a father. [It was] a real loss. I have the fondest of memories of him."
Emmerdale currently airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7pm on ITV.
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