She’s back! Chas returns
WEDNESDAY As Lucy Pargeter returns to Emmerdale following her maternity leave, she and her alter ego are raring to go…
Being back at Emmerdale feels like it always did,” grins Lucy Pargeter, joining Inside Soap for a chat between scenes. “Just slightly more uncomfortable!” Having given birth to twin girls Missy and Betsy in April, the actress is back behind the Woolpack bar this week, reprising her role as pub landlady Chas – and she’s already feeling at home again. But while Chas heralds her return to the village by launching herself at former flame Paddy, Lucy admits that reprising her much-loved role after six months off was a bit of a challenge…
“It was tricky managing to fit in everything at home while being back at work full time,” shares the star, who is also mum to 12-year-old Lola. “I felt extremely nervous, too. I feel nervous every day anyway, but I didn’t know if I knew the character any more, I didn’t know how to speak like Chas, and didn’t know if I’d learned the lines properly.
“It’s great to be back, though,” adds Lucy. “While I hate to say it, it’s a bit of an escape from the madness at home!”
Lucy’s maternity leave coincided with Chas’ temporary relocation to Ireland, where she was caring for Liv’s poorly mother, Sandra. Her return to the village comes out of the blue this week – particularly for Paddy, for whom Chas puts on quite the performance! But there are also other matters for her to deal with, such as Charity’s questionable running of the Woolpack in her absence, and her son Aaron having split from partner Robert…
“Chas is absolutely fine and ready to come back home,” reveals 40-year-old Lucy. “She already knows about Aaron and Robert breaking up – but Aaron’s not one for talking, so he’ll only have told her the bare minimum of what’s gone on, I’d imagine, so as not to stress her out. She’ll also need to try to rein Charity in! I’m surprised that Chas left her totally in charge of the Woolie like she did, so no doubt there’ll be a few spats in the works.”
Not surprisingly, Lucy had little spare time to keep up with all the Dales action while looking after a pair of newborns at home. That wasn’t the only thing the busy mum missed while she was away, though...
“I couldn’t watch the show because I’ve been quite strict with the girls,” she tells us. “It’s bath at six o’clock, bottles at half past six and bed at seven – which is when Emmerdale is on.
“It’s great to be back – and it’s a bit of an escape from the madness at home!”
“That being the case, I haven’t really had the chance to keep up with everything on screen,” continues Lucy. “I didn’t miss any of my workmates, though, because I saw everyone socially while I was off on maternity leave. What I did miss was being able to have food at certain times – I didn’t have time to eat at home! So now I’m back at work at least I get time to sit down, eat and have a chat. It’s been great being able to use my brain in more of a productive manner, too.”
So, with her feisty alter ego ready for business as usual, Lucy has also been getting back into the swing of things – and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I really looked forward to coming back to Emmerdale,” she explains. “I enjoyed my maternity leave, and
I’ve actually very much enjoyed the challenge of having twins. But needs must, and I had to come back to work. I don’t think anybody should be off screen for too long, because you never know who’s going to take your place!”