EMMERDALE director Lee Salisbury has revealed a “badly behaved” soap star was written out of the soap halfway through a big storyline.
The TV director, who worked on the ITV hit show from 2006 to 2015, has decided to keep the actor’s name underwraps.
Lee has worked on numerous shows in his time, including the likes of EastEnders, Coronation Street and Holby City.
So he’s certainly got some juicy behind the scene secrets that many viewers would love to know about.
When asked if there has ever been any incidents where cast members have been late to set, didn’t turn up to their shift or have been written out because of bad behaviour, he certainly didn’t hold back.
Lee told Digital Spy: “There was a person in Emmerdale who wasn’t really behaving and they did write this person out half-way through a storyline.
“I was there for that, but it was all dealt with very well and it proved to everyone else that you can’t get away with anything.
“In a soap, there is no one star, as the soap is the star. It’s not like a movie with Julia Roberts!”
Lee described working on a soap like a “normal workplace” as “things happen”.
No matter what the reason is behind an actor not turning up to set, it can really throw a spanner in the works.
He added: “It’s like a normal workplace – things happen. Soaps are scheduled so strictly and have to run like clockwork, so if someone’s ill or has had an accident, it can cause massive problems.
“But on all of the soaps, nothing is put up with. I was always so thankful that if anyone was misbehaving, they would get called in and it would be sorted out.
“That meant there wasn’t anything really bad that happened, but day-to-day, people do get ill. If that happens in the middle of a big storyline, it’s a nightmare.”
Lee, who runs his own podcast called Soap From The Box, also added that the weather, or the cast going abroad can really cause havoc.
Speaking about one occasion that stood out to him, he said: “Sid Owen filmed an outside scene for EastEnders walking into one of the buildings.
“Then he went on holiday, came back and walked into the door ten shades darker!”
Lee first started working in the soapland back in 2012, when he directed BBC One medical drama Holby City.
A year later he worked on five episodes of Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, which then led him on to help create scenes for Emmerdale, Corrie and EastEnders.
