ITV Emmerdale icon spills all on shock return ‘no one knew was coming’ ahead of twist

Emmerdale’s most recent returnee has spilled the beans on her big comeback which was kept under wraps until transmission.

A fan favourite made her big return in a recent episode of the ITV soap, without warning and now the actress playing her has confirmed “no one knew” about the comeback. Michelle Hardwick’s character Vanessa Woodfield made a surprise return to the show on Friday night, before making her big comeback to the village days on.

Now, she’s confirmed that limited people knew about the twist before it aired, as bosses were keen to keep the return twist under wraps and so it wasn’t revealed in any spoilers beforehand. Michelle was forced to keep the twist to herself and close family members for a while, with her making sure no one let the news out.

While fans had been predicting a return for Vanessa, they had no idea she would be back so abruptly. Actress Michelle returned after 14 months away, with her taking maternity leave following the birth of her second child.

But now Vanessa is back for good, and there’s already another twist on the way. Speaking on Lorraine on Wednesday, Michelle revealed her character is yet to uncover something shocking, amid her hopes of reconciling with ex Suzy.

She revealed things are about to get “messy”, as she teased what fans can expect from a new love triangle on the show. Host Ranvir Singh asked her: “Did you have to keep this quiet for ages because nobody knew you were coming back?”

Michelle confessed: “Nobody knew. I normally post things, everybody, my agent, we were going we can’t say anything, I said it to my family. It was the press team who decided it was gonna be a twist return, and it worked.

“The reception on Friday night was fantastic, it was nice to see Vanessa tending! She’s been missed after 14 months off.” She then spilled on the big love triangle ahead, admitting she didn’t know how it was going to play out.

Michelle said: “Talking of Mary, Rhona’s mum who’s sort of a mother figure to Vanessa, when Vanessa left to go to Canada she’d been in a relationship with Suzy. They did leave on good terms, not exactly a couple but when Vanessa comes back from Canada I think she’s wanting to rekindle things with Suzy.

“Unbeknownst to Vanessa, Suzy and Mary have sort of got a little spark between them, a bit of chemistry. So when Vanessa is looking to Mary as this mother figure and asking for advice about Suzy, Mary is sort of falling for Suzy! So it all gets a little bit messy. I’m looking forward to that honestly, I don’t know how it’s gonna play out in the end.”