“I really struggle to keep a straight face playing Bernice!”

Considering that some of her more dramatic plots have involved finding out that her husband was gay – and cheating on him with a farmer half her age – it’s been a quieter year for Bernice in relative terms! But as gorgeous Samantha Giles joins us to celebrate her Funniest Female nomination at this year’s

Inside Soap Awards, we hear that her character’s love life is set to take a very juicy turn again…

Would you say that Bernice’s fun side is what’s kept you with Emmerdale for so long, Sam?

Absolutely! I would just hate it if I was playing a character that was all doom and gloom, because I think it seeps into you. Thank God I’m just doing silly things like spraying fake tan everywhere – if I was playing misery every day, I’d be completely beside myself. I don’t know how some of them do it.

Is it difficult to keep a straight face when you’re filming Bernice’s sillier moments?

Oh, I’m terrible! I laugh all the time, but Lesley Dunlop – who plays Brenda – is the worst for it! We worked together before on Where The Heart Is, and one day we got really told off by a director, as we were just helpless with laughter. It was horrendous! Whenever I’m in a scene with her, I really struggle. Do you ever find yourself slipping into character outside of work?

I don’t think I’m like Bernice, but I can be a bit dozy and I say things without thinking. I’m more sensitive in real life, though, and wouldn’t make the stupid choices that she makes! Bernice is quite vain, and lured by money and status. Obviously everyone needs to earn money, but I know what it’s like not to have any, and it doesn’t scare me in the same way it would her. She is very attached to material things, and I’m not.

What has been your favourite story to play out this year?

I’m really enjoying what I’m doing right now actually, as I do think Bernice’s love life has been neglected for far too long! I think that if she does eventually finish with Daz, there will be a lot of backlash. Certainly on Twitter people seem to like him, as I think that women admire the underdog, don’t they? In reality, if you had the character of Daz as a boyfriend, you would get rid!

Would you agree that Daz and Bernice are an unlikely pairing?

Without doing Daz down, he’s been a stop gap for her. I think she went into it thinking, ‘This might be nice’, but now she just feels sorry for him. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? When you’re younger perhaps – not necessarily when you’re in your 40s like Bernice is – but you really want to get rid of this person, and you’re not quite sure how to do it.

We at Inside Soap really like the idea of there being a romance between Bernice and Graham…

Ooh! I do like Andrew [Scarborough, who plays Graham] – he’s very nice and I think that he’s a really good actor. That could be quite an interesting pairing, couldn’t it?

Bernice has never been short of love interests during her time in the Dales. What is it like for you every time you get a new one?

It’s quite embarrassing whenever you have to do any kissing with anybody, as you just think, ‘Oh God, I’m too old for this’! But once you’ve done it the first time, it’s all right after that!

Have you managed to pick up any beauty tips from playing Bernice’s scenes in the salon?

Oh, I just fudge it normally – though we try to do real things when we can. I washed Jonny Mcpherson’s [who plays Dr Cavanagh] hair for real actually, and that comes on screen in a couple of weeks. It was quite surreal – we kept getting the giggles as it was just ridiculous, trying to be flirty while washing somebody’s hair in a sink that didn’t really work. It was a bit of a bizarre scenario!

Have you had any particular highlights away from work over the past 12 months?

I’ve just finished writing my first children’s book, which I’m really excited about. To me that is a massive achievement, because when I first started writing I thought,

‘Am I going to be able to do this with everything else I have going on?’ I’m very pleased with it – my eldest daughter has almost finished reading it, and she is really enjoying it. I just want to get it published now, that would be the real icing on the cake!