Emmerdale legend Deena Payne has admitted her regrets at staying on the soap for so long.
The actress played Viv Hope in the soap from 1993 until 2011.
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Her character was famously killed off when she fell asleep during a fire and burned to death.
Viv wasn’t even given an on-screen funeral much to the fury of fans and Deena herself.
But now the actress has spoken out about how she should’ve quit the soap years before she was axed.
Read more: Emmerdale in 2022 – who’s leaving and who’s arriving in the village this year?
Speaking to Distinct Nostalgia Podcast, Deena said: “I think if I hadn’t have been a mum I would have chosen not to be in it for so long.
“After about two or three years I felt there was not a lot more I could gain for my career.
“But I am not a career-minded person, I am a people person and I think I would rather go for things that make me happy and that I want to do.”
Emmerdale star Deena Payne opens up about her career
Deena travelled instead – and put her acting ambitions on the back burner.
She explained: “If I really wanted to get into the next West End musical, there’s no way I would have travelled.
“But I wasn’t going to hang around, my boyfriend went and I thought, right, okay, I’ll go.”
However she also admitted that Emmerdale did give her some good things – mainly money.
And she used it to give her son a “good education and have a nice home”.
“I just feel I used [Emmerdale] as much as I could in every way and we now have a nice house,” Deena said.
“We always thought we’d have a nice house but I never thought I’d be living up in Yorkshire.”
Read more: Emmerdale fans think Jacob Gallagher is the father of Amelia’s child
But she did also admit some downsides.
Deena said: “Sometimes people were overly intrusive when I was on holiday or somewhere.
“It made me a bit anxious at times, but generally [the fame] was fine.”
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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