Actress Roxanne Pallett has revealed all about her decision to leave ITV1 soap opera Emmerdale.

Roxanne has played Jo Sugden for three years and has taken the character from a sassy flirt to a victim of domestic violence very convincingly. Jo says she is grateful to Emmerdale bosses for giving her the chance to shine and prove her worth as an actress.

Roxanne told The Daily Star: “I’ve really grown as a person and as an actress, but I know I’ve much further to go and I feel excited for the next chapter now, whatever that may be.

“I didn’t decide to leave for any particular reason other than it felt right.

“I follow my instinct and this storyline has been a page-turner, to say the least. I’d like to leave Jo with an impact. That should be now, before things get repetitive and stale.

“It was a hard decision to make, but you don’t move forward if you don’t take risks.”

She added:

“I’m so proud of where I’ve taken Jo in such a short space of time. I adapted a sexy little flirt to a broken woman at the end of despair. I’m so glad Emmerdale gave me the material to prove I was more than a just a bit of soap skirt.

“When I lost the make-up and shed the bravado as Jo, that’s when people saw I was an actress.”

Roxanne is rumoured to be taking part in this years Dancing On Ice series, however this is something she refuses to comment on, one titbit she did reveal though, Jo will not be leaving Emmerdale in a coffin and the door has been left open for her future return.