Emmerdale star Patsy Kensit has shared that she had “panic attacks” over the amount of lines she had to learn as she’s returned to the soap in the role of villainous Sadie King.
Kensit has reprised the role of Sadie after her original stint between 2004 and 2006. The character has made a spectacular comeback via helicopter in the aftermath of her ex-husband Jimmy King’s tragic death as she revealed that she and Jimmy had been living together for the past three years – right as Jimmy and Nicola had been planning to renew their own vows.
“During the first two weeks, I was having panic attacks and I was so worried about the amount of dialogue we had to learn,” Kensit told ITV News about her return, adding that her “muscle memory” kicked in as she’s “been doing this [her] whole life”.
ITV
Related: Best streaming services UK 2026 – including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV
The actor also noted that, unlike her Emmerdale character, she is “pathologically polite”, meaning she gets to “live vicariously through” Sadie.
As Kensit insisted that Sadie remains “a cow” two decades later, she teased some explosive scenes with Emmerdale mainstay Claire King, who plays Home Farm entrepreneur Kim Tate.
“I got to do some scenes with Claire King the other day and we took it old school. Old school bitches,” Kensit said.
Kensit originally departed Emmerdale as she took on the role of Faye Morton in Holby City between 2007 and 2019.
ITV/Emmerdale
“It’s overwhelming when you come back, because it’s such a well-oiled machine, and everyone that works on the show, the cast, the crew, all the hair and make-up departments, costume, everyone is so good,” she said.
The actor described the ITV soap as “one of the best places I’ve ever worked” and said she was “so impressed” when coming back to set.
“At the studio, I was walking around saying, ‘It’s so glamorous,'” she said.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
Read more Emmerdale spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.
The new edition of Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Ariana Grande, is here! Buy Ariana Grande in newsagents or online