Emmerdale boss Kate Brooks has explained the real reason Meena Jutla survived her big final storyline.
The serial killer has been played by actress Paige Sandhu for two years.
And she has made a huge impact in the village.
Viewers watched this week as Meena was found guilty of the murders of Leanna Cavanagh, Andrea Tate and Ben Tucker.
But enraged at her sentencing, Meena kicked off and it gave her victim Nadine’s sister Carol the chance to take her own revenge by stabbing her.
Read more: 16 Emmerdale spoilers reveal Leyla’s big secret, Marlon’s bad news and Al’s cheating
Meena survived and took the court hostage in a thrilling hour-long episode.
And despite all the drama and a huge secret about how she had killed her own father, Meena’s end did not end with her dying.
Instead she was dragged back to prison to rot until her sentencing.
And now producer Kate has revealed the reason they ultimately decided against killing her off.
Emmerdale boss explains Meena Jutla decision
Speaking to Entertainment Daily! and other media, Kate explained: “She has given us so much storyline recently that of course there is always that temptation to let her get away with it.
|A person who is capable of such heinous crimes and has no remorse can’t stay long in the village.
“They can’t continue on that path because there is no where else for her to go.
Emmerdale draws line under Meena Jutla’s crimes
“We knew that we needed to draw a line under it, not just for the viewers but for our characters who are left.
“They need justice and need for Meena to be punished for her crimes.
“If they don’t get the closure then there is no way to move them on as characters, so we knew that we had to let Meena’s fate rest in the hands of the soap gods and so I hope people will be very satisfied with what she gets.”
Read more: Emmerdale fans hugely divided as Meena holds the court hostage
Kate added: “It is different, and we could have killed her off, or gone down many different routes. But how we have punished her and how she leaves the show is very fitting to her crimes and to her character.
“If we take away the one thing that she craves more than anything in the world, which is attention and infamy, so once that is removed for Meena I don’t know what she has got left.
“I think she realises that very quickly, it is so much worse for her than death.”
Want more spoilers from Emmerdale? Entertainment Daily has a dedicated Emmerdale spoilers section for you to get your fix before the latest episodes air.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
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