Emmerdale star was almost dropped after a few episodes – and nearly slept with soap brother

Rebecca Sarker has opened up about her introductory storyline to Emmerdale and how if it wasn’t for a small change, we wouldn’t see her character on screen today.

The actress made her arrival to the ITV soap as Manpreet Sharma back in 2018. She then began a relationship with Rishi (Bhasker Patel) and married him a year later, becoming a stepmum to Jai (Chris Bisson) and Priya (Fiona Wade).

Manpreet also played a huge part in Meena Jutla’s (Paige Sandhu) serial killer storyline.

Sister to the evil face, Manpreet fell victim to Meena’s torturous techniques which included holding her hostage, and very nearly gassing her to death inside a barn.

Away from the very dark side to Manpreet’s time in the village, she’s had plenty of ups and downs when it comes to her love life.

But it wasn’t always going to be that way.

Actress Rebecca Sarker recently opened up about her arrival to the ITV soap and how, if the opening storyline wasn’t changed last minute, Manpreet may not be in the Dales today.

‘Manpreet was first introduced as a love interest for Rishi. Early on there was an idea she would cheat on him with his son, Jai. Originally she was meant to be a bit of a gold digger and a temptress, but I’m glad they didn’t go down that route as it gave the character more longevity’, she told Inside Soap.

Manpreet is now in a relationship with local vicar Charles (Picture: ITV)

The actress then reflected on the possibility of Manpreet and Jai becoming romantically involved with each other, revealing she would’ve found this a little bit strange, as her and Chris Bisson played siblings Nita and Vikran Desai when they were both in Coronation Street!

‘Also, Chris Bisson and I played brother and sister in Corrie 25 years ago, so I was a bit concerned at the thought of our characters having an affair!’, she laughed.

Manpreet is now in a relationship with vicar Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin).

Their life took a dramatic turn last week, when Charles’ son Ethan (Emile John) suddenly collapsed and died.

It has now left Charles determined to get to the truth, convinced Ethan’s death only happened as a result of his hit and run, which was orchestrated by Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly).

But will Charles discover her involvement and get revenge?