Emmerdale’s Roxy Shahidi has opened up about how she feels to leave the ITV soap after 16 years.

Fans of the show were utterly heartbroken a couple of weeks ago as they watched three iconic village residents die after a limo crash.

Suzy Merton (Martelle Edinborough), Amy Wyatt (Natalie Ann Jamieson) and Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) lost their lives in the disaster, which saw their vehicle get stuck in the middle of an icy lake.

In tonight’s episode, Jacob Gallagher’s (Joe-Warren Plant) friends and family gathered in the church for Leyla’s funeral, while Matty’s (Ash Palmisciano) loved ones were outside, celebrating Amy’s life among nature.

Both funerals were somewhat of a contrast to those we usually see in the ITV soap, as they not only reflected Leyla and Amy’s characters, but also featured narration from Leyla throughout the instalment.

Peppered in the episode were intriguing flashback scenes, which confirmed three members of the community are hiding secrets.

And perhaps the best part of them all? It turns out Leyla knew every single one.

This week, I sat down with Roxy Shahidi to discuss tonight’s instalment, those flashback sequences, and how she feels to be leaving the show after over a decade.

How are you feeling now Leyla’s final scenes have aired? Has it sunk in?

It’s just starting to, to be honest. I think it just kind of felt like annual leave because I hadn’t been in for a bit. Only now it’s just starting to sink in. It feels sad, but at the same time very exciting. It’s stepping into the unknown, ending a chapter and starting a new one. I have mixed feelings about that.

Last night I texted Laura [Norton] and Amy [Walsh], who are both on the show and I thought I’d better get a date in the diary because I’m not going to just bump into them. That was a moment when I felt a wave of sadness and realising how things have changed.

At the same time I was having a chat with my pal Matthew Wolfenden today, talking about season two of our podcast, so that felt quite exciting. It’s just both of those things.

People’s reactions in the street have been huge and, again, it’s mixed reactions. On the one hand it’s so nice that people loved the character so much that they’re moved by the fact that she’s going, so that’s really touching. But then also I’m having an absolutely fine day and someone goes, ‘I’m really upset!’ And you realise it is upsetting. Overall the reaction from the viewers has been so lovely. Everyone’s been so kind.

In the lead-up to Leyla’s death it was suggested she was isolated and lonely, but she knows so many secrets about people in the village. That’s a heartbreaking contrast isn’t it?

I think that’s the thing with loneliness. You can be in a room full of people and still feel alone. When people experience loneliness or depression it’s about your internal landscape and more than a reflection of what’s available in your external world.

For her she was going through one of those times, for whatever reason, where she felt alone despite being surrounded by so many loving people. That can be a really common thing and that’s why you don’t always know when people are going through things, because it all seems fine on the surface.

If Leyla had survived, do you think she’d have kept all these secrets?

Manpreet’s secret, I do not think Leyla would be able to keep to herself, because Manpreet’s secret is quite spicy and I think Leyla loves the gossip.

The Tracy secret she would be able to keep, as long as she knew that Tracy was going to come clean. Otherwise I think Leyla would eventually take it upon herself to out Tracy.

Suzy’s secret, I think I would say the same. She would want Suzy to take responsibility and come clean of her own accord. If that didn’t happen I think she’s be 50/50 with that, whether or not to tell the truth.

Louise [Jameson] is such an incredible actress. It’s been such an honour to work with her. She’s such a master of her craft. I’d love to do a play with her at some point because she’s just incredible.

Was it important to you that Leyla’s funeral reflected her character?

I didn’t really have any say in the actual funeral, but I think she’s such a big character and she has been in it so long, I think it was important for the writers and producers to give her a good send-off. It’s kind of not worth killing her unless you do it well.

I think they’ve done a really, really good job. Also I think it’s important for the people left behind – she’s got such good connections and relationships with so many people, especially her son Jacob. I think given their emotional reactions and their amazing performances, it couldn’t help but be good.

Have you been watching Emmerdale since the limo crash?

I haven’t watched any of it. I was going to but then I kept seeing clips of Joe [-Warren Plant]. On the day I cried my eyes out because he was just so good. We were both in tears, on and off screen, the whole time, even though I was supposed to be dead. I was a weeping corpse! I’ve just not watched it.

Jacob is doing a lot of growing up in this period.

Oh my God, he’s absolutely amazing and I think now they’ll start to write for him more and more as this young adult. I think for a long time he still felt like a kid but he’s coming into his own now and I can’t wait to see what he does.

He’s really on his own now and that’ll be a great place for the to write from. It lends itself to a lot of drama.

Do you have any favourite Leyla moments that immediately come to mind?

There’s been so many over the years because she’s such fun. Some of the stuff I did with Dr Cavanagh, the character of Liam, when they decided to split up. There was a day when we did something like 38 pages of dialogue in one day. That was a really sad day because obviously the story was sad, but it was a great day of acting.

Lots of fun stuff over the years like girls’ nights out. Michelle [Hardwick] sent me something the other day and it was me and her in these ridiculous blue dresses. Over the years you forget how many ridiculously camp parties there have been in the Woolpack. Those days are fun because it ends up feeling like a bit of a party.

I think the thing I’ll miss most, ultimately, is the fun of Leyla. I had some fantastic, dramatic, emotional stories and all actors love to play those, but I think for me what was special about Leyla was that she always exuded energy and playfulness.

That is something that I’ve always delighted in. It’s always been a joy to step into her six inch heels, put those brightly-coloured jackets on with the big shoulder pads and just have some fun. She was very colourful and I really, really enjoyed that.

Did you keep anything from Leyla’s wardrobe?

I took a lot of heels that I’m never going to wear, just because I couldn’t bear to be parted with them, but that was about it. Heels and a pair of tight leather pants because I always used to complain about being squeezed into them but they really epitomise Leyla to me.

What was it like filming the limo scenes?

It was a really mixed experience. It was bittersweet because it was so nice to do my last scenes with such an incredible cast. We all get on so much in real life. We’d all randomly at different times burst into tears because someone was going or you were going to miss someone and you realised it was the last thing you’d have with that particular person.