I have been cheated on and the betrayal is the worst feeling in the world... I’d never do that to anyone
I’m single right now but would love to meet someone. I’m ready FIONA WADE ON HER OFF-SCREEN LOVE LIFE
SHE’S at the centre of a love triangle on Emmerdale, enjoying a steamy affair with her best friend’s man. But while her character Priya Sharma doesn’t mind being the other woman, for actress Fiona Wade it is a line she would never cross – because she knows the pain of being cheated on herself.
Fiona, 38, describes it as “the worst feeling in the world”. It makes the betrayal storyline, which features Priya having an affair with Leyla Harding’s man Pete Barton, all the more raw.
Speaking from the set of the Yorkshire soap, Fiona says: “I think women should stick together and honour each other, have that girl power thing. We should think about how other people feel.
“I’m in my 30s now, and along the way I’ve been cheated on and it is probably the worst feeling in the world.
“A woman always knows. And I trust my instinct as a woman very strongly.”
Fiona would never name and shame the men who hurt her, but she says that doesn’t make the agony any less. While one boyfriend admitted playing away, another didn’t – but she still knew.
“Whether it comes out or not, as a woman if you feel like you know there has been a betrayal, and even if you might not know all the details, it still hurts,” she says.
Fiona can’t even imagine what it would have been like if the other woman was a friend.
“I put trust above everything, so I don’t really see how I’d be able to have a friendship after that,” she adds. “That would be the ultimate betrayal. It would be horrendous, there would be no going back.”
The heartache means that Fiona, who admits to having romanced a number of unnamed previous co-stars, would never stray herself.
And Fiona, who joined Emmerdale in 2011, is still hopeful she will find her Mr Right.
“I am single right now,” she says. “I would love to meet someone, I am ready to. You live and you learn through every experience.
“I am happy and just excited for what the future holds on that front.”
While you would think the stunning star would have potential suitors queuing up, she says her long hours on set make it difficult to meet the right person at the right time.
“It probably is harder to meet someone,” Fiona says. “People say to me, ‘Oh you must meet a lot of people.’ But we work very long hours, then we come home and learn lines. When we go to events, it isn’t really that kind of thing.
“It is about meeting the one who is right for you when the time is right. I’ve got loads of time. I hope so. I’ll be fine.”
In spite of the tough work schedule and the effect on her love life, Fiona is loving every minute of being on
Emmerdale. Born in Enfield, North East London, to a Filipina mother and British father, Fiona had dreamed of being an actress since she first started singing and dancing classes aged three.
During school she became the victim of racist bullies, but it drove her to follow her dream.
Just before starting Italia Conti stage school aged 17, she landed her first major role, playing schoolgirl Joanna Day in Grange Hill from 1996 to 1998.
In the years that followed she worked as a jobbing actress with parts in the West End and episodes in TV dramas including Where the Heart Is, Doctors, Silent Witness, and Law and Order UK.
She says landing the Emmerdale role five and a half years ago was the big break she had been waiting for. “Emmerdale has definitely changed my
life,” she says. “I had been an actress for more than 20 years before I got Emmerdale, and I had done a lot of different things – dramas, West End shows. I had a good leg of work behind me, but you get to that point where you want the big job, the big break, and I was waiting for that.
“I felt like I had trod the boards for a long time, and it would be great to get something big. “When the part of Priya came along and I read the script, it just felt right.
“I know there are actors out there who would love to be doing something full-time and be in a show like Emmerdale. It is fantastic, I never forget that. It has been incredible.” The
high-profile role has made Fiona a household name, and it means she regularly gets recognised.
But she takes it all in her stride, and isn’t bothered at all if fans catch her make-up free rather than looking like her uber-glam character, Priya.
“I am so unglamorous in real life,” she laughs. “People do recognise me when I come off set and I am all made up, but I do like being more natural, that is more me. I love just putting on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, although I always wear my little heeled boots because I am quite short. “It is lovely to go to work and the
MWhen the part of Priya came up, it just felt right. It’s incredible FIONA WADE ON FAME AND HER BIG BREAK
make-up team make you look so lovely. But as soon as I leave work the make-up is off. I probably should feel more pressure to put make-up on, but as long as I am presentable and me, I am happy.
y focus is the job, working hard and being successful, not necessarily being famous. It comes with being in a soap, which is on every day.
“There is a difference being in a big show like Emmerdale than being a jobbing actress where nobody knows who you are. I just go with it.”
Emmerdale is on fire at the minute. For years the soap had been in the shadows of its rivals Coronation Street and EastEnders. But a series of huge storylines and dramatic
performances from the cast have seen it leapfrog the competition to be named best soap at the British Soap Awards for the past two years running.
Fiona is proud to be part of the success and is relishing the chance to work on her big storyline, which is set to get tongues wagging in the village.
“I am absolutely loving it,” she says. “It is the best show right now and I am very, very proud to be part of it. I am very proud of everything we have achieved over the last few years.
“As an actress you just want to work and be busy, so it is great to have a storyline to get your teeth into.
“And I love Priya. She is feisty, she is a strong businesswoman, she has been through a lot.” She is also enjoying getting to work closely with Anthony Quinlan, who plays Pete, despite the awkwardness of having to do sex scenes with someone she didn’t know very well.
Fiona laughs: “We haven’t really worked together at all, so it is quite funny because suddenly you have to do these really intimate scenes. He is a really lovely guy, and we were very nervous doing the kissing scenes.
“We wanted to make sure each other was comfortable and also that it was good. We giggle a lot, but that breaks the ice and it is a lot of fun working with him.”
Which is lucky, because while her personal life might be lacking in romance, her on-screen alter ego is certainly enjoying a lot of attention.
“There are definitely some steamier scenes coming up,” she laughs.