Bob? He’s history!

Charlotte Bellamy on this week’s dramatic climax to her Emmerdale character Laurel’s ill-advised romance with Bob Hope

Since the death of her beloved husband Ashley 18 months ago, Emmerdale’s Laurel Thomas has done her best to move on. For the past few months she’s been seeing Bob Hope, who left his wife Brenda for her, just hours after getting married. But this week Laurel will finish with Bob, having realised that the unemployed former cafe owner is no replacement for Ashley.

‘It’s the end of the road for them,’ says Charlotte Bellamy, who plays Laurel. ‘She’s realised Bob’s not the man she thought he was. He’s a failure, a disaster really. The wake-up call came when her little daughter Dotty called him “Dad”. It made Laurel realise he’s not The One and she doesn’t want Bob to be a father to her kids.’

Things reach a head this week when Laurel returns from a few days away, on what would have been Ashley’s birthday, to find Bob’s organised a stripper night at The Woolpack with him ending up as the main attraction!

Seeing Bob gyrating on stage, Laurel pushes him over and announces they’re finished in front of the packed pub. ‘Bob’s organised the event for charity but it’s so crass,’ says Charlotte. ‘And the fact he’s doing it despite knowing it’s Ashley’s birthday shows

his insensitivity, underlining to Laurel that she’s with the wrong man.’

So why did Laurel decide to date Bob in the first place? ‘It was a huge mistake but Laurel was so deep in grief she couldn’t see the wood for the trees,’ explains Charlotte. ‘She wants to replace Ashley but can’t. She feels a lot of guilt, especially after breaking up Bob’s marriage, but ultimately it’s not love with him, so that’s the end.’

Charlotte, 45, who’s married and has three children, says she doesn’t know when Laurel will really move on from Ashley. ‘I’m sure the writers will put her with somebody down the line, but who or when I don’t know.’

She still misses John Middleton, who played Ashley for more than 20 years. ‘I can’t believe it’s a year and a half since he left, but that indicates

how quickly the show keeps moving,’ she says. However, losing John has not dimmed her affection for Emmerdale, which she joined in September 2002. ‘I love it more than ever. I’m so familiar with the place, the people, the way we work; what’s not to like?’

Before Emmerdale, Charlotte had a spell on EastEnders playing cult member Sue Taylor and then worked for two years on the other side of the camera in casting, which she says made her even more appreciative of her current role. ‘I saw how getting a job can change people’s lives, but there are so many brilliant actors and so little work. Soap actors are so fortunate, and if you still enjoy your job after 16 years that’s incredible; thankfully that’s the position I’m in.’