Emotional tribute to axed Emmerdale star revealed as bosses make sweet gesture

EMMERDALE bosses have revealed an emotional tribute to an axed star in new spoilers.

The ITV soap has revealed it is naming its newest edition after the star’s on-screen death caused uproar with the show’s fans.

Viewers will see today as Charity Dingle gives birth after acting as a surrogate for her own granddaughter Sarah Sugden.

And while fans know the baby is actually Charity’s after she slept with Ross Barton, Charity is keeping that secret so Sarah can achieve her dreams of becoming a mother.

And when Sarah and husband Jacob take over as the baby’s parents – they name her in honour of Jacob’s late mum Leyla Harding.

Despite being one of the show’s most popular characters, bosses decided to kill Leyla off as part of a huge limo crash stunt week.

She was dramatically killed off in February last year, when Leyla was involved in a brutal icy lake disaster that saw her and a group of regular characters plunge into ice cold water.

In emotional scenes, it was revealed that Leyla didn’t make it to hospital in time, dying in the ambulance.

Since then, Leyla actress Roxy Shahidi has been taking time to reflect on her life and career path, taking up teaching yoga online.

In a brutally honest post on Instagram, Roxy admitted that she struggled with the axe and what the future held after 17 years on screen.

She wrote: “This time last year, I was coming to terms with having to leave this lot behind. Not just colleagues, but friends and family.

“Playing Layla wasn’t just a job; she was a huge part of my identity, and some days I spent more time being her than being myself.

“Losing that sense of identity was hard, but long walks with Mr Cooper [her pet cockapoo] gave me space to breathe, reflect and stay hopeful.

“Yoga once again became my anchor on the hardest days, moving my body helped me move through grief, loss and uncertainty.”