Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi, who of course plays Leyla Harding in Emmerdale, has revealed that she cried while filming her final scenes for the show.

Speaking to Inside Soap, Rokhsaneh said, “I cried the whole time on my last day.

“Luckily, I was filming lots of sad scenes – but Natalie Anderson and I were in floods of tears constantly…

“I’ve had a great time at Emmerdale – it’s such a beautiful place to work and so much fun.

“But I’ve enjoyed three great years there and now it’s time for me to do something different…

“So I’m really excited about what might be coming up in future.”

As part of her exit storyline, we’ll see that Leyla’s relationship with fiancé David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) reaches breaking point next week after she takes her biological son Jacob away from the village without telling anyone.

Of that storyline, Rokhsaneh said, “He tells Leyla she has to give up Jacob or they’re finished.

“That’s something Leyla could never do – if she has to stop seeing her son to be with David, she could never love him in the same way ever again.

“It’s an impossible choice – Jacob will always come first for her.”