“I love it when Priya is doing stuff she shouldn’t do!”
If we had to pick one word to sum up the past few months for Priya, that word would probably be ‘sexy’ – so it’s fitting that star Fiona Wade is up for Sexiest Female at this year’s Inside Soap Awards! Naughty Priya seduced her best friend’s boyfriend, Pete, causing all kinds of heartache when poor Leyla found out. But Fiona tells us that behind the scenes, it’s been a real hoot…
“Anthony Quinlan [aka Pete] is always making me laugh on set!” she giggles. “We had a really tricky day where we were trying to film a very serious scene, and we just could not stop laughing. It was so embarrassing – we even had to take a tea break in between! After that, we didn’t know if we’d ever be able to work together again.”
Luckily they made it through, and we’ve been treated to plenty more drama as the love triangle has unfolded. But although Priya’s actions were unforgivable, Fiona admits that she does feel for her lonely alter ego…
Priya has been a bit of a minx this year! What do you think about her saucy antics?
Well, as an actress it’s great when the writers come up with something good like that for my character. Priya always has something fun going on, and I like it when she’s getting up to stuff she shouldn’t be. So I’ve had a great time! But when I first heard about it I just thought to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, Leyla is Priya’s best friend – this is going to be awful!’.
What advice would you have given to Priya about her situation if you were her pal?
I’d say to her, “Listen, you need to stop this right now!”. I’d be having harsh words with her, for sure. She didn’t mean it maliciously, though – there’s no excuse, but she’s just a girl who’s gone out with a lot of guys who have let her down. In that moment she really needed someone, and it ended up being the wrong person!
Did you get viewers telling you off in the street?
Yeah, a little bit! There was nothing good about that scenario, so of course people were going to be like, “Priya, what are you doing? This is awful!”. But I think over the past six years people have got to know the character, and they like her. So I haven’t got as much backlash from viewers as I thought I would.
Do you have sympathy for Priya?
I think you have to have some love for your character – I’ve lived with her for six years, I know her backstory and all her layers. I like Priya, I think she’s a really fun and feisty woman who makes mistakes sometimes. She’s not bad, but what she did to Leyla was horrible. When I think about my best friends who I’ve grown up with, I just cannot imagine that happening. And if it did, I don’t know where we’d go from there. It’s massive.
What was it like filming that scene with Roxy Shahidi where the truth came out? Leyla really went for Priya!
Yes, and rightly so! In terms of the fight, we ended up just going for it. I had a pillow strapped to my back for when she smashed me up against the door, so it was all very mechanical. But we were excited about doing it – you have to really prepare for those scenes. Me and Rox prefer to just have a chat and a catchup, so it’s weird when we have to be horrible to each other on screen!
Aside from Roxy, who else have you liked working with this year?
I’ve loved working with Anthony, as we’d never really worked together before. It was a real surprise putting Priya and Pete together – I didn’t expect that, and neither did he. But Anthony’s a dream to work with, and it’s been great to get to know him.
What else have you enjoyed in Emmerdale this year?
I think Emma Atkins [Charity] is an incredible actress. I love watching her, because she plays evil so well! But the whole show is looking fantastic at the moment. I think our producer, Iain Macleod, has been great for Emmerdale. Whenever I get the chance to sit down and watch it I get really drawn in – I forget I’m even in it!