“I love having Faith in my life!”

Inside Soap is very excited about meeting Emmerdale’s Sally Dexter – we love her alter ego Faith, and we’re hoping the actress will be every bit as entertaining as her character. And as it turns out, we’re not disappointed!

Dressed in a glamorous gown, Sally plonks herself down in front of our camera and lifts up her skirt to reveal a pair of black sparkly trainers and socks. “It looks okay with these on, doesn’t it?” she asks innocently, as she gets ready to pose for the shots. The answer from the stylist is a resounding ‘no!’. “Oh, well maybe I’ll just keep one trainer on?” Sally replies with a twinkle in her eye.

It’s this kind of cheekiness that has won Sally’s character Faith a place in the viewers’ hearts. And it’s also why we’re delighted to have her on our list of nominations this year…

Hi, Sally! It must be quite odd being up for Best Newcomer, given that you’ve been in this acting game for quite some time…

I do feel a bit outrageous, because I actually won a best newcomer award in 1987! That was when I was in a Tom Stoppard play at the National Theatre called Dalliance, with Brenda Blethyn and Tim Curry. So to find myself up for it again three decades later is quite thrilling!

How has your Emmerdale experience been so far?

It’s been absolutely brilliant. I guess everyone says the same thing, but it’s such a happy place to be. I do think there’s something about having an outside location, it’s just good for the soul to get out into the fresh air and have that greenery. The village is so beautiful – sometimes very cold as well, but it’s wonderful to be there.

Did you have any preconceptions about the show before joining?

My mum is an avid fan, so that was really all I knew about Emmerdale.

I would occasionally be with her when she was watching it and I’d say, “Who’s that? And why are they doing that?”. And she’d throw her hands up in the air and say, “It’s complicated!”. And now I know what she means!

The first few months that I was here, I was constantly ringing my mum and saying, “Am I related to this person?”.

What do Emmerdale viewers make of Faith?

Oh, I’ve had lovely feedback, I’ve got to say. The viewers are extraordinary – you can see people come up to you with a glint in their eye, and they’ll say, “Are you who I think you are?”. Which I love! It’s been fabulous, and I love having Faith in my life.

What’s been most challenging about working on Emmerdale?

For me, the most challenging thing is trying to organise all the paperwork. It’s vast! I’m not very good with the schedules. Frequently I’ll turn up on set with a scene under my belt, and when we start running lines I’ll realise they’re doing a completely different scene I’ve never read before!

What do you do when that situation occurs?

If I haven’t got my lines learnt as well as I might like, sometimes I just make things up! There’s been a lot of hilarity when I’ve said something absurd, which is often the case with me. But they’re very good at setting you right, while also having fun with it. So you don’t ever feel that you’re in trouble. Although I can get away with a lot because Faith is a very naughty woman – she can’t help it!

You’re also nominated in our Funniest Female category – but who makes you giggle on set?

Well, we had a laughing fit on set this morning! I was working with Jeff [Hordley, aka Cain] and Natalie [J Robb, who plays Moira], and I was meant to say something like, “You two should be together”, but instead I said, “You two should really get it on!”. I’m afraid there was a lot of giggling after that. Jeff hurt his thumb the other day too, so I’ve started calling him Thumbelina!

You have had some serious plots to play this year too, with Faith opening up about her mastectomy. Do you have a preference when it comes to playing drama or comedy?

I like them both, because for me they go together, they’re not a separate thing. Even in the darkest times of life there is humour, and if you don’t have humour, you don’t have humanity. That’s not to say that people are falling around laughing all the time, but life isn’t always grim. We don’t all walk round like we’ve stepped in something!