UPDATE: |Emmerdale fans say absence is ‘explained’ as star turns up in rival soap News

Coronation Street welcomed a former Dales resident to Weatherfield

Emmerdale fans spotted a Dales resident has moved onto Weatherfield after Natalie Anderson made her debut in Coronation Street on Monday (7th April).

Actress Natalie Anderson joined Emmerdale in 2010 to take on the role of Alicia Metcalfe before she departed the ITV soap in 2015. She also played the role as Stella Davenport in the medical drama The Royal from 2005 to 2008 and was more recently seen in the hit Netflix drama Fool Me Once.

Alicia was the sister of Leyla Harding, and she adopted Jacob Gallagher as Leyla gave Jacob to Alicia and Justin to raise because Alicia was infertile.

She decided to leave the village in 2015 and return to Portugal after her relationship with David Metcalfe breaks down and she later filed for a divorce.

Alicia hasn’t been seen in the Dales since, and fans felt disappointed when neither her, David or Priya returned for Leyla’s funeral last month.

Leyla Harding was one of the three confirmed deaths in the Valentine’s limo crash after she was impaled with a piece of glass during the accident. In heartbreaking scenes, Leyla was declared dead before making it to the hospital, as Jacob realised he’d never be able to say goodbye to her.

However, Natalie has since made her debut in rival soap Coronation Street as the wife of Theo Silverton, Danielle. Todd Grimshaw took a shine to Theo when the scaffolder first arrived in the village, and it appeared as though the feelings were mutual after their first date.

However, Theo quickly disappeared and panicked that anyone would find out they were together. He later told Todd that his family weren’t accepting of his sexuality, and the pair got together once again.

Things soon turned sour, when Todd met Theo’s wife Danielle leaving him stunned. Theo arrived at the undertakers with his wife to organise her mum’s funeral, and Todd got all the answers he needed. As Theo desperately tried to explain, admitting he’s been married for nineteen years but has known all his life that he’s gay.

Speaking of her new role, Natalie said: “Danielle is such a brilliant character. I’m so thrilled to be playing her. She’s a deeply layered woman and it’s been wonderful to explore some of those layers as I’ve gone on this journey with her.

“She’s also a bit of a shapeshifter so you never really know what you’re going to get and I’ve absolutely loved playing that, there’s lots of surprises with her.”

Fans were quick to point out that Natalie had joined Coronation Street, and taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), @griannedoherty wrote: “Well, that explains why Alicia was really a total no-show for her own Sister’s funeral, forget the leg, not even to support her Son sadly”.

@TraylorHolmes added: “I’m guessing Alicia won’t be returning to Emmerdale any time soon” as @MorelandJo questioned: “I’ve often wondered why Emmerdale never brought her back?”

Another viewer @Simy_78 wrote: “So this explains why she couldn’t make Leyla’s funeral in #Emmerdale” and @RyanTheSoapking added: “OMG ITS ALICIA FROM EMMERDALE!” as @Matt528chap joked: “And needs to get back to that village asap so I can stop screaming ‘wrong soap'””