On her new life after leaving ‘emmerdale’ fiona wade shares exciting plans with her ‘fantastic’ leading man by her side

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS

F or any actor taking the plunge and deciding to leave a long-running role, the world may seem full of unknowns, but Fiona Wade is embracing the moment with fervour.

“I’ve always been ambitious, and I like to step out of my comfort zone, even if it’s terrifying. Fear is okay. It is what you do with it that counts. I believe you should look back and know you have lived your life to the full,” she tells HELLO! in her first interview and photoshoot since bidding farewell to her character Priya Sharma in Emmerdale, a part she has played for over a decade.

“I think the world has opened up. It’s an exciting time,” she says, with a period drama just one of many options on her wish list. “In the past, I would have said period drama would have been out of the question for me, because of my ethnicity,” says 43-year-old Fiona, whose mother came to the UK from the Philippines in the 1970s. “But now, I would love to do that. With everything being so diverse, it’s wonderful.”

The star has early memories of pulling on legwarmers and dancing to Fame as a young girl, and she has rarely been out of the limelight since winning her first professional role on Grange Hill aged 16. A well-deserved holiday is on the horizon, although deciding how best to enjoy some time out provokes hilarity with her husband, actor and writer Simon Cotton, 38, who starred in the film The Fall of the Krays as Ronnie and is currently touring in An Inspector Calls.

“We were laughing as we are similar in many ways, but we like doing different things,” Fiona says. “I could shop all day and have lunch, whereas Simon would put on hiking boots and climb a mountain.”

They have finally agreed on “a road trip around Europe, driving down to Italy”, her husband says. Not that Fiona hasn’t plenty to be getting on with, as new scripts are already coming in, and Simon reveals that he has written a part he’d love her to play. “She hasn’t signed the contract yet. I’m working on it!”

CHERISHED HERITAGE

They also have plans to visit the Philippines later this year. “I want to take Simon to meet my Filipino family, as we haven’t been able to do that yet,” Fiona says. “They live in an incredibly rural province and I haven’t seen some of them for a long time.”

Joining them on the trip will be the star’s mother. “She didn’t know anyone when s