“Andrea is adamant she’s not giving up…”
EMMERDALE’S ANNA NIGHTINGALE SAYS THAT REVENGE IS HER ALTER EGO’S NEW OBSESSION…
Most women would have packed Jamie Tate’s bags and thrown them out of the top-floor window of Home Farm when they discovered he was a cheater. But Andrea Tate has played it super-cool since finding out her husband is secretly having an affair with Belle. Cleverly whisking away Jamie and their daughter Millie for a sunshine-drenched holiday, she hoped to show him exactly what he’d lose by leaving her. However, as the family returns this week, Emmerdale star Anna Nightingale (Andrea) tells us we’ll soon discover that her alter ego has underestimated Jamie and Belle’s feelings – and vows to destroy them!
“Before they come home, Jamie, Andrea and Millie have been in this bubble together, and Andrea is quite confident that the plan has worked in her favour,” explains the star, who will celebrate her one-year Dales anniversary next month. “But Jamie becomes more and more distant when they return, and deep down she knows things aren’t right. Andrea is in survival mode now, she has everything to lose!”
The truth hits Andrea when she snoops on Jamie’s work laptop and finds a hotel booking for him and Belle. He’s lied to Andrea that he has to go away for work, so now she has proof he’s still being unfaithful. How does she react?
“She’s devastated and at a loss as to what to do,” confirms Anna. “Andrea goes back and forth with how she should react, but is adamant that she’s not giving up. Her relationship with Jamie and their family unit is everything to her. Andrea won’t go down without a fight.”
She can’t force Jamie to love her, yet Andrea has learned a thing or two from mother-in-law Kim’s playbook of manipulation. Her first move is to recruit business partner Leyla as her confidante and wing woman against her cheating husband, before she formulates the perfect revenge – targeting Belle…
“Leyla gives her the confidence and an idea to expose both Jamie and Belle,” teases Anna. “She thinks what they’ve done to Andrea is disgusting and that the more people who know, the better. Andrea knows that Belle’s family means everything to her, so if she can disrupt this, she hopes Belle won’t walk away from this without some fallout.”
It remains to be seen how Andrea will destroy Belle’s most important bonds – after all, Dingles normally stick together. But Anna promises that Andrea means business with her revenge plan.
Could she follow in Kim’s footsteps and become a Dales super-bitch?
“Well, Andrea has had to fight for her survival in the village and she’s never given up easily,” ponders the actress. “I don’t think she’s naturally ruthless in her nature, but the situation with Jamie and Belle could change how Andrea behaves going forward.”
For Anna, the breakdown of the
Tate marriage means she may have to stop working so closely with her costar and good friend Alex Lincoln, who plays Jamie.
“I love working with Alex, and with all the arguing and troubled scenes we’ve had together, we make sure we have as much fun in between takes as possible,” she tells us. “Alex is like a brother to me, and I’ve been checking in with him at least once a week since we went into lockdown.
I’m really looking forward to going back to work, it will feel as though we’re even more tight-knit as a group than ever before.”