Emmerdale’s Claire King revealed her heartache over co-star Olivia Bromley’s exit from the ITV soap, following Dawn Fletcher’s death
Claire King opened up about her co-star’s devastating exit
Emmerdale actress Claire King has shared her heartache over co-star Olivia Bromley’s exit from the soap, following an explosive episode.
The 30-year-old has played Dawn Fletcher in the long-running ITV programme for eight years, sharing the screen with Claire’s Kim Tate, her stepmother.
Fans were left shocked when her character was killed off in devastating scenes on her tragic wedding day, after prematurely giving birth to a baby boy with partner Joe Tate. In the emotional footage, she suffered internal bleeding and sadly died after giving birth.
Touching on the episode in a press roundtable, Claire described their final few moments together on set as “heartbreaking”.
“But we did have a good laugh that week because we were all outside this massive marquee where we were doing all the wedding stuff and car crash, and it’s all supposed to be tragic but we were all actually having a good life.
“We had some really nice people on set that day. Great crew, and it was just a bit of camaraderie.
“But I could see as the days went on to the final day she was getting more and more sort of angst and things.”
Dawn made a big impact when she arrived in the Dales almost a decade ago, and has been at the centre of huge storylines since then – including the moment she found her long lost son, and her on-off romance with ex-husband Billy.
Olivia was told of her character’s fate earlier this year, with bosses teasing the huge exit plot. However, despite the advanced warning, she admitted that she found it tough to bid farewell.
“It was the toughest storyline I’ve done during my time in the soap,” she told the Mirror.
“I was surprised by how emotional I found it and it was way more emotional than I was expecting. I did cry.
“It is very strange to kill off your character as an actor and in front of your colleagues. But that said, what a gift to be given. Often people leave and just slip off.”
She added: “Psychologically, now I have had time to reflect, I know it’s good for me, because I can say bye to my Emmerdale chapter. It’s been brilliant. I was originally only signed up for 12 episodes and I’ve stayed eight years!”
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