Deena Payne, who played feisty Viv Hope in ITV’s Emmerdale, has admitted she no longer watches the soap, since her departure earlier this year.

Deena, who played the mini skirt clad newsagent for 18 years, made no secret of her disappointment of her character’s death, in the arson attack storyline, saying she felt the show let down her fans by the way she died.

Her character, who in her 18 years in the Dales had been involved in dramatic story lines such as the plain crash, the hostage siege and even spending time in jail for fraud, died of smoke inhalation after falling into a drunken slumber, never regaining consciousness.

At the time, Deena said she felt cheated by the end, saying that after 18 years she expected to go out with more of a bang.

Since leaving the show, Deena has told OK magazine that she cannot bring herself to watch the show any more as she misses everyone, especially Tony Audenshaw who plays Bob Hope, so much it still makes her tearful to watch it.