Emmerdale’s Roxy Shahidi on her fears about her latest project, protecting her child from publicity, and how a milestone birthday made her take on new challenges
WORDS: KIRSTY NUTKINS PHOTOS: REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
ON HER SOAPBOX
When actress Roxy Shahidi signed up to appear on ITVBe’s fly-on-the-wall documentary series
Drama Queens, she was looking forward to taking on an exciting new project away from her day job on Emmerdale. But as the first episode of the show aired earlier this month, she admits she was suddenly overcome with nerves.
It follows the behind-the-scenes lives of some of the nation’s favourite soap stars as they juggle work commitments with their personal lives. Roxy bravely allowed the cameras to roll during moments when she felt incredibly vulnerable – such as opening up about the sudden death of her father when he was 41 and she was just 17.
Even though she says she felt safe and comfortable filming those very personal scenes, the thought of them being shown to millions of viewers filled her with panic.
“When the camera is rolling, it’s just you, the other ladies and this crew you’ve got to know and trust,” says Roxy, who teamed up with fellow actresses including Coronation Street’s Lucy Fallon and Ellie Leach, and former EastEnders and now Hollyoaks star Rita Simons, for the eight-parter.
“But a few weeks later, you realise it’s actually going out on television and you can’t quite remember what it was you said! All you do remember is feeling vulnerable. I kept thinking, ‘What did I say? And how upset did I get?’
“On Emmerdale, you perform a script and you’ve got that character to hide behind – but this is you, in the moment, being as authentic as you can be. And that leaves you feeling a little bit exposed.”
The fact that Roxy, 41, is naturally quite a private person meant it was an even bigger decision for her to commit to the show.
“Doing a lot of press or reality stuff, or anything that really exposed me on a personal level, is something I’ve previously shied away from, because it made me feel vulnerable,” she admits. “Rather than brave it and put my toe in the water, I just kind of hid away from it.”
Drama Queens is something totally new for the star, who has played Leyla Harding on Emmerdale since 2008. Earlier this year, she also stepped out of her comfort zone to appear on Dancing On Ice. The reason? After turning 40 last year, she decided that, when new experiences came
