Emmerdale actress Isobel Steele has revealed Liv Flaherty’s asexuality will be explored further in the run up to Christmas.
The 17-year-old, who won Best Young Actor at the Inside Soap Awards earlier this week, told Mirror Online she has been researching the experiences of people who do not feel sexually attracted to others in preparation for the revived storyline.
And the Manchester-born soap favourite also teased a romantic interest on the horizon.
Noting some fans may have thought the character’s asexuality may have been dropped after moving into the background for several months, Isobel said she felt it was a very significant issue to address.
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“She’s having to reiterate how she feels towards relationships and sex and explain it all again to people she thought understood,” Isobel reasoned.
Isobel also told how she has been doing plenty of reading up about asexuality to aid her performance, but highlighted Liv would not have all the answers to her own questions immediately.
“Liv doesn’t know what it is, she’s not put a label on it, she doesn’t know it’s asexuality,” she added.
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The popular young star also said she reckoned Liv’s brother Aaron (played by Danny Miller) would stick with her through thick and thin – not least because of that character’s former struggle in coming to terms with being gay.
Happily, Isobel also teased Liv would be on better terms with Gabby, months after they shared a Valentine’s Day kiss before their friendship turned sour.
Explaining Gabby’s negative reaction was due to her ignorance rather than outright hatred, Isobel said the pair will be reconciled as friends and that the initial confusion felt by Ashley and Bernice’s tearaway daughter was not unreasonable.
And Isobel hinted that there could be a special someone for Liv soon.
“So she fancies someone and she wants to spent time with this person but she has to explain that she’s not sexually interested in them,” she explains. “Which can be interesting because, for some boys that’s all it’s about!
“She’s having to explain her feelings to this person and it’s not exactly what they think it is. It’s interesting!”
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays
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