Emmerdale's Kurtis: 'It's not a cougar situation'

Emmerdale star Kurtis Stacey insists his character's steamy affair with older woman Moira Barton is not about age. Widow Moira, played by 37-year-old Natalie J Robb, has been branded a 'cougar' after having a fling with young farm worker Alex Moss, played by 21-year-old Kurtis. But Kurtis said: "I don't believe it's a cougar situation. I believe they actually like each other. "Alex isn't looking at her age, he's not even thinking about that. He's just thinking 'I like this woman. Oh, she likes me!' "And then when they get it on age wasn't even a factor. It was just something that was there. It was just pure attraction. It's not about age, it's not a fantasy for Alex." The soap star added that when he and Moira were filming the scenes they tried to make them as serious as possible, not just raunchy, because Kurtis hopes this relationship could be a lasting one in Emmerdale. He said: "It's really passionate. We've made it a lot more serious, as much as possible, so people will see these people like each other. "It's not just a one-off. It's something that I'd like them to always look at and remember. It won't just blow over."

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.