Emmerdale's Karene Peter opens up over real-life friendships with co-stars

Emmerdale star Karene Peter has opened up about her real-life friendship with some of her co-stars.

The actress, who plays Naomi Walters, made her first appearance on the soap in June of last year, but has revealed she has quickly formed a bond with her on-screen family members, Kevin Mathurin (Charles) and Emile John (Ethan).

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"Kevin is absolutely hilarious – we have so much fun on set which is great," she told Inside Soap. "Being on Emmerdale doesn’t feel like work anyway, but Kevin makes it not feel like work at all. We get on very well - he’s looked after me since the start and we have a genuine friendship.

"It’s the same with Eddie," she continued. "We get on like a house on fire. It feels as though we’ve known each other forever. It still feels really surreal as I grew up watching the show on TV, and now I’m in it with all these familiar faces."

Since entering the village last year, Naomi has been in the thick of it, with her court trial proving to be an emotional rollercoaster. In describing the intense scenes, Karene said of the shoot: "It felt very real. It was very authentic and visceral watching it all unfold and being cross examined.

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"The story needed to be told and Nicola deserved to be vindicated, so it's great that there is an end in sight," she continued. "It's been so fun and intricate to get into the bones of. There are complexities surrounding all the decisions and emotions Naomi has had to make and go through. It's been a challenge to play and bring that all to life."

In more recent scenes, Naomi has butted heads with Rhona Goskirk, leaving her job at The Woolpack on the line.

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.