MANY soap fans have been eagerly expecting Paige Sandhu to come out of the woodwork since her exit.
The former Emmerdale star responded to claims she could come back for the soap’s 50th anniversary and the answer is crushing.
No village villain caused murderous mischief better than sinister nurse Meena Jutla.
Earlier in 2022, the serial killer was thrown behind bars for a minimum of 75 years after one final showdown in court.
Before she lost her legendary mischievous grin upon realising she wouldn’t be escaping justice, Meena was found guilty of the murders of Leanna Cavanagh, Andrea Tate and Ben Tucker.
Since then, ITV viewers have wondered if Meena would make a surprise reappearance most notably to celebrate the Yorkshire-based program’s semicentennial.
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Some viewers speculated that she could come back to the eponymous to wreak more havoc than ever after escaping prison.
Sadly, Paige Sandhu dashed all hopes of seeing Meena again while she walked the red carpet of the Inside Soap Awards on October 17, 2022.
“I have been asked about it a lot and it’s so lovely! I’m surprised that people remember me, to be honest, because it’s been ages since I’ve been on”, the actress told Digital Spy.
“It means a lot to me that Meena impacted people so much.”
She then got straight to the point – the storm won’t bring Meena back to the Dales.
“No, it’s not a possibility and it won’t be a possibility”, Paige asserted.
“I’ve loved playing her and I’ve loved working at Emmerdale, but I feel like the story came to an end.”
“I mean, we did do everything, didn’t we? We went for it! I feel like to come back would be over-egging the story.”
But while her character won’t claw her way out of prison to get revenge in Emmerdale, Paige Sandhu has remained in close contact with her on-screen sister Rebecca Sarker aka Manpreet Sharma.
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She’s also in touch with Priya Sharma actress Fiona Wade.
“I speak to Rebecca and Fiona every week. I saw them recently at another awards ceremony and it was so lovely.”
“You’re spending potentially 11 hours a day with them, so to go from that to nothing, it’s a big change.”
What has Paige been up to since Meena was locked away? The 25-year-old has clearly kept busy.
“I have been auditioning and there have been some offers”, she said.
“It’s tough though, because I’ve played, in my opinion, the best character ever. So I’m now putting everything up against Meena!”
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“I’m waiting to find a character that I love as much as her, if not more. We’ll see.”
Meanwhile, Emmerdale continues to air weeknights from 7.30pm on ITV.
