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Gemma Atkinson on why she turned down multiple soap return offers 'I wouldn't want to'

Gemma Atkinson has been a staple on our TV screens for over two decades, and the Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star has now addressed a potential soap return

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Gemma Atkinson on why she turned down multiple soap return offers 'I wouldn't want to'(Image: ITV)

Gemma Atkinson has opened up about whether a soap comeback could be in her future.

The telly star first shot to fame playing Lisa Hunter on Channel 4's Hollyoaks between 2001 and 2005, before making a fleeting return in 2022.

She has since appeared across various programmes including The Bill and Waterloo Road. Then in 2015, she landed a role on ITV's Emmerdale as Carly Hope.

Throughout her time on the Yorkshire-based drama as Carly, Gemma found herself at the centre of several major plotlines - including the devastating discovery that her infant son Billy had died from cot death, and her rocky relationship with Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock).

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Gemma previously appeared in Emmerdale

However, after a two-year run, Gemma departed the soap in 2017 - and has kept herself extremely busy since, taking part in Strictly in 2017 and starring in her own reality programme alongside partner Gorka Mrquez, Gemma and Gorka: Life Behind the Lens, reports the Mirror.

Speaking on a recent instalment of her podcast, Lost in Translation, which she presents with Gorka, Gemma was pressed about whether she might ever return to the soap opera world.

Posing a question from a listener, Gorka asked: "Would Gemma go back to acting in soaps or acting in general?".

[An adult man and woman, likely in a domestic setting, are shown engaging in an affectionate kiss while seated closely together. The man's arm is wrapped around the woman, indicating a close and intimate relationship.]

She has spoken out about a soap return(Image: ITV)

Gemma responded: "I would. I wouldn't be able to do soaps again. Hollyoaks kindly asked me back a few times and I love Hollyoaks."

She went on: "The thing with soaps, I love them, but you have to be on call for 24/7 unless you specifically book time off.

"You could have a random Thursday off in the schedule but they'll ring and say 'we're planning to do exterior scenes but it's chucking it down and we've changed it. We're interior now, you're in'."

[Gemma Atkinson on Lorraine]

The actress is a mum to two children (Image: ITV)

Gemma, who is mum to daughter Mia born in 2019 and son Thiago (born in July 2023), continued: "With kids and juggling that, it would be too stressful and I wouldn't want to."

Nevertheless, Gemma added: "However, if it was like a one-off drama, whereby they said 'you start the 10th of May you finish the 10th of June', 100% because there's a start and end and I would love it."

Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 8:00pm on ITV1 and ITVX

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