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Patsy Kensit has said her Emmerdale role “changed her life” after making a dramatic return to the soap nearly two decades on.
The 58-year-old British actress reprised her character as the scheming Sadie King on the ITV series.
She first appeared as the devious former wife to Jimmy King for a two-year stint from 2004 to 2006 where she drove many dramatic storylines, including a house explosion and high-stakes affairs with a young Robert Sugden and Cain Dingle.
Speaking during a press roundtable she said: “It’s a role that I’ve really cherished and I’m very protective about her.
“It changed my life when I did it, 20 odd years ago.
“It’s just wonderful to be back for a little while and just get to say all those horrible things to people.
“I’m pathologically polite so it’s wonderful to live vicariously through this woman who who seems to have no shame in her game, but does she really have what what she had before when she left?”
Kensit praised the script for being “beautifully written” with many nods to moments from the first time she appeared on the show, including her dramatic arrival to the Dales – via helicopter.
“I’m loving it” she said, “I’ve been here a couple of months now. It’s flown by”.
Kensit will be on the show until December, however, hopes her character does not get killed off to keep the door open for another return in the future.
The return of her mischievous character comes moments after her former husband, Jimmy, died in a car crash.
As his wife, Nicola King, played by Nicola Wheeler, mourns her loss, Sadie reveals that she has been in a secret relationship with Jimmy for the past three years which is met with a slap across the face.
The actress said she was “absolutely shitting” herself during her first few days on set, but felt very welcomed and reassured by the rest of the cast – including Wheeler, who she described as “phenomenal”.
