‘People are disgusted with me!’ Emmerdale’s Charlotte Bellamy reveals she cops a lot of flak for Laurel’s affair

Emmerdale Laurel Thomas Bob Hope

Emmerdale star Charlotte Bellamy talks Laurel Thomas’ latest steamy kiss with Bob Hope and why she has to dodge angry soap fans in the supermarket!

Widow Laurel Thomas has done her best to ensure that her fling with an almost married Bob Hope doesn’t have a repeat performance. But she just can’t help herself, actress Charlotte Bellamy has revealed to Soaplife.

What’s the story?

When Brenda Walker leaves the village for a short trip, it’s not long before her fiance Bob Hope and his lover Laurel Thomas are snogging passionately yet again!

“Laurel is in turmoil,” actress Charlotte Bellamy revealed. “She doesn’t want to wreck a family and is terrified that Brenda will find out.”

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Charlotte Bellamy’s interview with Soaplife about Laurel snogging Bob...

Soaplife: What is Laurel thinking?

Charlotte Bellamy: “She isn’t really! Bob has stirred something in her. She spent a long time being a carer to Ashley, so to have somebody like Bob interested in her has brought alive something that she didn’t know she had. He makes her feel good. She is only human!

S: Why did she start fancying Bob out of the blue?

CB: “That’s what happens in life, isn’t it? Especially in a village as small as Emmerdale. You read about this sort of thing all the time. You can work in an office with somebody for years and then something happens and you think ‘Actually, I find them really attractive.’”

S: What did you think when you heard that Laurel was to fall for Bob?

CB: “It was a shock as I didn’t see it coming. Nobody did. That’s the thing about Emmerdale, none of us ever know what lies ahead for our characters and sometimes, you are told one thing and then they change it. I think it was a surprise to everyone as the audience found out about it after they’d slept together in a flashback episode.”

S: What do viewers think of the affair?

CB: “People are disgusted with me. They sidle up to me in the supermarket and say ‘You are going to get caught. I can’t believe you’re doing that.’ They are quite judgemental which is good really.”

S: How do you feel about Laurel being disliked?

CB: “I just play the truth of it. You can’t play a character who is good the whole time as ultimately, that would be boring. Laurel has to keep evolving. If you’ve got a friend who has an affair, it doesn’t suddenly mean they are a bad person.”

S: Could people forgive Laurel?

CB: “Well, she did kill the dog and people forgave her for that! She got drunk and slept with people too. She goes up and down all the time and that makes her interesting I think.”

Emmerdale continues on ITV

Rachel Lucas
Forward Planning Deputy Manager

Rachel is a soaps and TV writer for WhatToWatch.com, soaps podcaster and resident soap expert for UK TV listings magazines What's On TV and TV Times. After graduating with an art and design degree from Birmingham City University, she found her true calling in all things soap and has been writing about them for magazines and websites for over 20 years. A self-confessed soap addict, she's always had a great love of all the UK and Aussie soaps and owns everything from a Neighbours 1990 Annual to a DVD box set of classic Corrie episodes to prove it.