ITV Share By Tamzin Meyer 9th September 2024 By Tamzin Meyer 9th September 2024 Here's where Gillian Kearney is now as Emma Barton 'returns' to soap Emma Barton has 'returned' to the soap Emma Barton Gillian Kearney Share By Tamzin Meyer 9th September 2024 By Tamzin Meyer 9th September 2024 Monday’s episode of Emmerdale (Monday, September 9) saw the ‘return’ of Emma Barton in the form of an hallucination. Moira Dingle, who has been struggling of late, found herself having a showdown in the barn with Ruby – reminiscent of the showdown she had with Emma years back. Ruby’s words started to blur and Moira hallucinated, imagining that Emma was there with her instead of Ruby. Actress Gillian Kearney exited the role of Emma Barton back in 2017 after nearly three years on screen. But what has she been up to since? Before Emmerdale Prior to landing the role of Emma Barton in the ITV soap, Gillian was known to soap fans for playing Debbie McGrath in Brookside, the girlfriend of Damon Grant. article continues below Read all the latest spoilers The star-crossed lovers were popular with viewers, which resulted in them being given their own spin off show – Damon and Debbie. She also had major roles in the likes of Shameless and The Forsyte Saga before landing a permanent role as staff nurse Jessica Harrison in Casualty. Her storylines as Jessica included an affair with a colleague and the heartbreaking death of her 8 month old son. Gillian’s first scenes Emma Barton in Emmerdale aired in early 2015. Emma was a creepy killer (Photo by ITV/Shutterstock (6897790z)) Who was Emma Barton? Emma was the estranged wife of James Barton and mum to Pete, Ross and Finn. She was tracked down by her son Finn, years after she’d abandoned her family. Throughout her time in the ‘Dales, she continued to have a rocky relationship with her family. One particular storyline saw the soap mirror Stephen King’s Misery. With James housebound due to a broken leg, he was at Emma’s mercy. One scene saw Emma helping James back into bed before getting changed into a wedding dress. She then went outside to slaughter a chicken – as you do. James did eventually manage to escape the unhinged nurse, but he didn’t get far and was pushed from a bridge to his death by Emma. Lovely… Emma also accidentally killed her son Finn. After taking Adam’s gun, she fired a random shot which just so happened to catch Finn. She was eventually killed at the end of 2017 as part of a whodunnit storyline. It was eventually revealed that Moira was the guilty party. Gillian was nominated for Best Serial Drama Performance at the National Television Awards in 2017 and 2018 for her portrayal of Emma Barton. Moira killed Emma (Credit: Photo by ITV/Shutterstock (8965291cz)) Where is Gillian Kearney now? After leaving the soap, Gillian swapped acting for directing. She directed two episodes of Channel 5 prison drama Clink in 2019. This was followed up by a go in the chair for an episode of BBC One series Moving On. However, she’s still dipping her toes into the acting world and earlier this year Gillian was seen in an episode of ITV drama Vera, where she played Deborah McSwain. Read more: Tom and Amelia might not be the worst Emmerdale couple ever… Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm. Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm. Plus, visit our Facebook page @emmerdaleinsider for all the latest Emmerdale news, gossip and spoilers! Share this:Click to share on X (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Good to Know Share By Tamzin Meyer 9th September 2024 By Tamzin Meyer 9th September 2024
