Leyla Harding star Roxy Shahidi has spoken about her reaction to her Emmerdale character’s death during the recent limo crash.

The ITV soap has seen 17 characters fighting for their life after two limos, driven by Charity Dingle and Caleb Miligan, were involved in accidents with one plunging into an icy lake.

Suzy Merton was the first casualty of the crash, dying as the limo she was in crashed into the lake.

A second death was revealed in last night’s (February 19) episode after Leyla died from blood loss before reaching the hospital, with her lifeless body shown in the morgue.

The revelation left fans of the soap devastated, and actor Roxy has opened up on her own shock over Leyla’s passing as speculation mounts as to who will survive the devastating stunt.

“When I first found out, I was very shocked. I had been in the show for a long time and I wasn’t expecting this news,” she told The Sun.

“Emmerdale becomes a fabric of your existence to a huge degree. It’s not just about the joy of the work, it’s the joy of the people and community.

“There are times when you have a big story where you will spend more time with your work family than you do at home.”

Despite her shock, Roxy said she takes her character’s demise as a strange sort of compliment.

“Leyla’s death is shocking but, as one producer told me, ‘You have to be worth killing!’. I take this as a compliment,” she explained.

“The landscape of TV has changed a lot over the last decade. To keep it going at its best, there is never any guarantee of continuous work.

“It’s been a privilege and an honour to have been in Emmerdale as long as I have and I’ve never taken it for granted.”

She continued: “At one point, I was supposed to be dead and I had tears streaming down my eyes. I was a weeping corpse.

“We filmed the crash at night and unfortunately I was ill for four days. I’d only ever had one day off in the 16 years I had been there, and I was worried this would cause a big issue. But our producer, Laura Shaw, was amazing.”