Emmerdale’s Leyla Harding went out with a bang on Thursday evening (March 6) as she took three big secrets to the grave.
In a unique twist on a soap funeral episode, viewers were treated to some specially-recorded Leyla voiceovers as the villagers gathered to pay their last respects to her.
As well as having the final word in those scenes, Leyla also featured in some intriguing flashbacks, which delved into three big secrets that she discovered just before she died.
Leyla caught Mary Goskirk, Tracy Robinson and Manpreet Sharma all in separate surprising situations in the run-up to the limo crash.
Digital Spy caught up with Roxy Shahidi – who played Leyla – for an exclusive catch-up chat about the episode this week. As Leyla wasn’t known for her discretion, we had to comment on her character’s admirable restraint in not blackmailing or exposing anyone.
Roxy quipped: “Well, if she lived, she might have done! She could never keep a secret.”
Here, we give a quick recap on the three secrets, Roxy’s exclusive reaction and what happens next…
Flashback #1 – Tracy is stealing from Eric
The first flashback of the episode showed Leyla pay a quick trip to the local shop, where she was served by Tracy.
Leyla handed over a £20 note to pay for a bottle of wine, but when using a compact mirror to remove some lipstick from her teeth, she caught a glimpse of Tracy secretly stashing the money away rather than putting it in the till.
When confronted over her casual stealing, Tracy confessed that she’d started resorting to theft some time ago because she isn’t receiving any child maintenance payments from her estranged husband Nate.
Although Tracy has only been stealing odd amounts here and there, the overall value has quickly increased over time to £2,000 without shop owner Eric Pollard noticing.
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While Tracy thinks that Nate “doesn’t give a stuff” about her or their daughter Frankie, Emmerdale viewers know that he’s dead after a mysterious murder.
Roxy exclusively told Digital Spy: “Leyla would have wanted Tracy to come clean about the stealing.
“If Tracy didn’t, I think Leyla would have eventually told Pollard the truth. At the end of the day, Pollard is her family.”
Next week’s Emmerdale episodes see Tracy continue to hide her financial struggles from her sister Vanessa Woodfield, but she feels a sense of dread when Eric summons her to The Woolpack for a chat.
Is it a false alarm? Or has Eric stumbled across the shocking truth?
Flashback #2 – Suzy wanted to be with Mary
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Before Suzy Merton’s death in the limo crash, Mary paid her a visit to drop off a book that she’d borrowed.
Suzy took the opportunity to shower Mary with compliments, describing her as “funny, wise and gorgeous”.
She admitted that she’d thought their friendship was developing into more last year, until Mary pulled back because she was scared about the age gap between them.
Mary was quick to point out the not-so-small matter of Suzy’s relationship with Vanessa, but Suzy admitted that she was prepared to give it all up if Mary took a chance on her.
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As the conversation progressed, Suzy even vowed to end things with Vanessa regardless of Mary’s ultimate decision.
The pair moved in for a kiss, which was interrupted when Leyla burst in and scared Mary off.
Roxy exclusively told Digital Spy: “The love triangle revelation would have been really tricky for Leyla to deal with if she’d survived. She had such loyalty to both Vanessa and Suzy.
“But knowing Leyla, I think she would have accidentally told the truth in the end!”
Next week, the pressure grows on Mary as Vanessa goes through Suzy’s phone and makes some early discoveries about what was going on before she died.
Will the full truth be exposed?
Flashback #3 – Manpreet is an online sensation
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Continuing her habit of storming into a room at the worst possible time, Leyla also interrupted a private moment for Manpreet Sharma at the doctors surgery.
Manpreet was engrossed in a picture on her laptop, but hastily closed the lid when Leyla walked in.
After catching a glimpse of the photo, Leyla asked: “Was that you? I’m sorry, but wow!”
Manpreet warned: “If you breathe a word of this to anyone…”
It appears that Manpreet has set up an Only Fans-style page, attracting plenty of attention online. This explains the mysterious messages she has been receiving and why she seems cagey around her phone.
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Roxy told Digital Spy: “Leyla definitely would have told everybody about Manpreet, accidentally on purpose. She’ll have just loved that and wouldn’t have been able to keep it to herself.
“I enjoyed that because it was so colourful. The other two secrets that Leyla discovers are a lot more serious. So it was nice to still have that fun side of Leyla in the last ever episode, in her scene with Manpreet.
“I think the viewers will be surprised by the secrets. It’s a nice way for Leyla to go out, because I guess she lives on.”
Next week, Billy Fletcher starts to seek attention elsewhere as his cheating wife Dawn seems distracted. He tries to look up Manpreet’s online profile, a plot point which revisits the possible connection between them from last year.
Meanwhile, Manpreet faces a nightmare when one of the villagers starts blackmailing her. Who is responsible?
