Emmerdale bosses confirm departure of popular cast member
The character was sent to prison
Author: William MarriottPublished 21st Jun 2019 Last updated 21st Jun 2019
Emmerdale have confirmed that Louisa Clein, who played child abuser Maya Stepney, has left the soap and will NOT be returning. It comes after last night's episode (Thursday) saw the character sentenced to one year in prison for her improper relationship with 15-year-old Jacob Gallagher.
In the dramatic scenes, Maya pleaded guilty to sending inappropriate messages to Jacob. The youngster then declared his love for Maya, saying he would wait for her until she gets released. The schoolteacher didn't respond.
Instead, Maya was placed in a police car and that was the last fans of the soap saw of her.
An Emmerdale spokesperson confirmed Louisa's exit, revealing she is no longer part of the cast and that the character will be staying in prison for the foreseeable future. However, Maya's life inside won't be documented on-screen.
The show's spokesperson added upcoming episodes will cover the fallout of the trial as Jacob's family attempt to make him understand that he was groomed by the schoolteacher.
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Emmerdale bosses confirm departure of popular cast member
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Joe Tate met a grisly end in October when he was shot dead by Graham Foster. Nice. Actor Ned Porteous is swapping the rolling hills of the Dales for the Hollywood hills!
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Leyla left for Greece without saying bye in January, but she's due back in the summer (actress Roxy Shahidi took maternity leave). She returned on October acting very shifty...
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Sandy Thomas
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Priya Sharma
After a very testing time with social services, pretty Priya Sharma is said to be leaving the show this year.
Gerry Roberts
Poor Gerry was at the receiving end of Lachlan's murderous hands in May (he finished him off with a rock - nice).
Mandy Dingle
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Ross Barton
Ross has had it pretty tough since being involved in an acid attack earlier in the year. There are rumours that he'll be exiting the show later, but we don't know why or how.
Rebecca White
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And the fallout wasn't just on-screen. Fans took to Twitter to express their shock that Maya had only been sentenced to one year. One user said, 'I can't believe Maya only got 1 year, she should have gotten more time than that' sic whilst another wrote, 'Did Maya really only get one year inside???'. sic
Emmerdale airs every weeknight at 7pm on ITV, with a second showing on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
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