Emmerdale star Gemma Oaten, who of course plays tracksuit lover Rachel Breckle, has revealed to Inside Soap that she’s trying to persuade former Star Trek legend Sir Patrick Stewart to make a cameo appearance on the rural soap.

Rachel apparently “got to know” Sir Patrick after she wrote to him for some tips on acting.

She explained, “I keep trying to persuade Patrick to star in Emmerdale!

“When I got my place at drama school, I was looking for a bit of advice about where to get funding, so I wrote to Patrick and Sir Tom Courtenay, who are connected with my local area.

“Bizarrely, they both wrote back and have become mentors to me. Tom watched the show the other night…

“He emailed me and said: ‘That’s our girl, very well done – very proud!’ It was so nice.”

Also during the interview with IS, Gemma, who’s been nominated for best newcomer in the Inside Soap Awards, hinted that there’s a good deal of drama yet to come in the plotline between Rachel and Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) as they struggle to find some way dealing with her pregnancy.

Gemma said, “Viewers will learn that Rachel doesn’t want to be a dirty secret.

“She wants Jai to tell Charity the truth, and she’ll push for that – but it doesn’t pan out like that.

“Jai is struggling in his marriage, but doesn’t want to lose his baby, either – so he comes up with a plan that might shock a few people.”

Stay tuned to Emmerdale to find out what that plan is!