This month sees the culmination of Emmerdale’s emotional storyline, with Rhona Goskirk standing trial for kidnapping baby Ivy. In the controversial plot, which has kept the nation gripped, mother of two Rhona went to extreme lengths to keep her biological child. Complications arose because, while Ivy is genetically hers, Rhona has no legal rights over the child because she had been conceived with a frozen embryo that her ex-husband Gus Malcolms (Alan McKenna) used without her consent.
“It’s been fairly full-on, I’m not gonna lie,” actress Zoe Henry, who plays the Dales vet, tells us. “But I work with great people and I think that makes a massive difference. Mark Charnock [Marlon Dingle] and I get on like a house on fire. Louise Jameson [Mary Goskirk] is amazing and Alan McKenna, the new addition who plays Gus, has been so much fun. As heavy and highly emotional as stuff has been, we’ve had a lot of fun between takes.”
As Rhona awaits the verdict, Zoe hopes her alter-ego can get her life back on track. “It’s been a very stressful time. There are probably concerns around her marriage to Marlon, even though they’ve been together on and off for a good 23 years and I think they’re going to come out of this unscathed,” she says.
“I hope she gets to have Ivy in her life in some way, shape or form, although I’m not sure how that will be. And I hope that her and Gus can maintain some kind of civil relationship – at the moment it’s pretty dire. I think there’s quite a lot of repair work with [her children] Leo and April that Rhona needs to do.”
As Rhona, Zoe has had her share of big storylines including a painkiller addiction, infertility, domestic abuse and even a near-death experience, since her debut on the soap in 2001. “Every storyline I’ve had, big or small, is a gift. It’s a privilege. To be trusted with big stories is an honour,” she says.
“I’ve lucked out. This has been my favourite job ever. I love it!
There’s a lot to be said for playing a character long term. It gives you a very different four-dimensional experience because it gets to the point where you know the character more than the writers do in some ways – not that it gives us any control over anything!”
Off screen, Zoe is married to fellow Emmerdale star Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle). The couple, who have been together for 30 years and celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last August, have daughter Violet, 19, and son Stan, 15. But, surprisingly, the subject of the jobs is hardly ever brought up at their Yorkshire Dales home.
“We rarely talk about work. We talk about vegetables, dogs and children,” she reveals. “Our children don’t give a monkey’s about
