LOCK UP YOUR MEN!

Watch out, ladies of Emmerdale – Emily Head says her character will win you over... and steal your blokes

Forget Kim Tate and Sadie King, and move over Charity and Belle Dingle, because there’s a new man-eater in town. Meet Rebecca White, the globetrotting heiress to the super-wealthy White dynasty, who’s come to the Dales ready to get her claws into Emmerdale’s assortment of men.

‘Rebecca knows what she wants and is very good at convincing people they want to give it to her,’ says Emily Head, who plays her. ‘She’s a force to be reckoned with and it’s inevitable she’ll cause havoc.

‘And yet despite this, Rebecca is someone everyone likes. Think of her as the kind of girl who’d sleep with your boyfriend but you’ll still end up being friends with her afterwards.’

The only person she’s not popular with is her sister Chrissie. Rebecca recently made her grand entrance, landing at Home Farm in a helicopter keen to discover if Lawrence White is her father – and whether she’s in his will. This week, after learning that Chrissie had failed to tell her about their questionable paternity, Rebecca and her sibling have a fight in The Woolpack, fuelled by the revelation that Rebecca once slept with Chrissie’s then-husband, Robert.

‘Rebecca’s hurt to find out Chrissie’s kept this information from her for so long,’ says Emily, ‘and when Chrissie’s son Lachlan reveals Rebecca once slept with Robert, there are fireworks. Filming it was fun.’

Lawrence then produces the results of the DNA test, which will change everything for the two women. The feud intensifies when Lawrence subsequently makes Rebecca and Chrissie co-managers of the farm.

‘ Rebecca’s relationship with Chrissie is fractious,’ says Emily, 27. ‘Rebecca also wants to stake her claim for the will. She wants to get on with Chrissie, but the issues between them make that difficult.’

It seems a long way from her most famous role, as schoolgirl Carli D’Amato in Channel 4’s hit sitcom The Inbetweeners. ‘The first series slipped under the radar,’ she says. ‘ From there it just grew, and we were pleasantly surprised when it became as big as it did.’

She says that having a father in showbusiness – Anthony Head, known for Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the classic Gold Blend coffee ads – made her certain she wanted to be an actor. ‘I spent summers on the set of Buffy, which made me realise the industry was as exciting as I imagined.’

Now in Emmerdale, facing an intense filming schedule, Londoner Emily has moved north during the week. ‘I’m really enjoying it,’ she says. ‘I’m pleased with the stuff the writers are giving me, and excited to see where it will go.’