Emmerdale star Joe-Warren Plant has responded to the “heartbreaking” cast exits following the recent limo crash plot.

The storyline saw two limos involved in horrific accidents, which claimed the lives of three beloved characters. Among the shocking exits was Leyla Harding, who died from blood loss before reaching the hospital.

In the aftermath of the crash, viewers have seen Leyla’s son Jacob Gallagher (Plant) devastated with grief, as he struggled to come to terms with her death.

Speaking to  and other media, Plant discussed losing his on-screen family and his excitement about working with other cast members in the big storyline.

“It’s nice to see everybody again. Now Matthew [Wolfenden, who played David] and Roxy [Shahidi, who played Leyla] have gone as well, which was heartbreaking, it’s allowed me to work with other people I don’t usually have scenes with,” he said.

“It’s quite a breath of fresh air. We all get on so well but you never really interact with each other in scenes, so it’s nice to see what dynamics Jacob has with other characters.”

The actor addressed the future of his character after Shahidi’s exit from the soap. He added: “It’s pushing me in a different direction, rather than playing the son of Leyla and playing parts in their storylines. It’s been nice to get to try something different.”

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Meanwhile, Jacob is still struggling with his placement at the hospital, as he tries to deal with the stressful work environment. Describing it as “a lot of pressure”, Plant shared that he “almost felt really scared” when tackling the storyline.

“Obviously it was exciting and exhilarating, but I was just thinking ‘wow’. I know a few people who have this job in real life and it’s not easy by any means. They struggle with it, the pressures that it brings is on a scale I don’t think any other job really has.”

He added: “It was important to take my time with it and try and research things a little bit. You hear stories about what these people deal with on a day to day basis and I know I couldn’t really do it – I have so much respect for anybody who has that job. So it was important to me to tell it with as much authenticity as I could.”