Emmerdale’s Alicia Metcalfe has a new job, a wardrobe to die for and romance on the horizon. In real life, Emmerdale star Natalie Anderson, 31, has got even more to smile about…
How do you feel about your first Mother's Day?
"It’s a bit weird because I’m so used to looking after my mum and grandma, I don’t put myself in that equation. Freddie’s too young to know what’s happening at the moment, but I hope my husband remembers!"
What is Alicia doing for Mother's Day?
"Not much that I know of, although she is in a good place. It is back to Jacob and Alicia on their own again, the two of them against the world. Although David has moved on, Alicia has got her head around that and is feeling optimistic about making something of her life, for her and for Jacob."
Do you get on with Joe Warren-Plant, who plays Jacob?
"I have to really. I want him to trust me and to be able to tell me if there is something he’s not happy with at work. He is brilliant. He was only eight when I started working with him and now he’s 11 and that’s quite a big difference.
You’ve been playing a mum for three years; does it feel different now you have a six-month-old son Freddie in real-life?
"I haven’t done that much with Joe since I’ve been back, but yes, there is a different edge to my lines now because I know what it feels like to be passionate about your child. Before I had Freddie, I used past experiences. I have four half siblings and my mum was a young single mum, she had me when she was 18, so I know what being in a single parent family feels like."
Will you be spoiling your mum on Mother’s Day?
"Definitely. I have a new-found respect for her. When I’m managing Freddie, I think about what it must have been like for her. She was only a young girl and had to do it all on her own. I look at her now and think ‘Thanks mum.’ She did a great job because I had an amazing childhood and now we are really close."
Do you swap baby talk with your co-stars?
"I tell you who is amazing – Samantha Giles, who plays Bernice. There is only a day between our babies and this is her second child. She has given me so much reassurance. I am really good friends with Charley Webb (Debbie Dingle), too, and her son Buster is only a few years old. There are lots of new babies at Emmerdale and I love meeting up with the mums in my time off."
What’s in store for Alicia?
"I’ve just been reading scripts about her date with this new man, although I can’t tell you who he is! That means the David, Alicia and Priya triangle is going to be about four people now. Jacob’s really happy for Alicia and tells her how lovely she looks before her date. She feels she’s really making something of her life now. She’s on her own without a man and knows it is all down to her to carve out a successful life. She’s desperate to impress Megan, who she really looks up to."
Can you tell us if David and Alicia will get together?
"Everyone asks me that and I really don’t know how it is going to turn out. I would like to see them together in a relationship. It would be new territory for them as they have only ever been friends."
