Emmerdale star Fiona Wade calls soap exit ‘best decision ever’: ‘It was a scary decision, but the right one’

Fiona Wade, who played Priya Sharma on Emmerdale for 11 years, has said that leaving the show was the best decision she ever made.

The 44-year-old actress left the ITV soap in 2022 when her character was offered a job in London. Now, Fiona is set to star in the supernatural theatre thriller 2:22 A Ghost Story, where she will play Jenny, a woman who moves into a ‘haunted’ house with her husband.

The tour started last month and will run until 15th June, visiting cities like Blackpool, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bradford, as well as Cambridge and Bromley. 2:22 A Ghost Story has seen some major names appear in various productions over recent years, with Lily Allen, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl and former EastEnders actor Jake Wood all treading the boards for the supernatural thriller recently.

As the play tours the UK, with Vera Chok, The Wanted singer Jay McGuinness and George Rainsford also bagging starring roles, former soap star Fiona has been speaking about what the role means to her. “I knew that my first job out of Emmerdale had to be the right one, and then this came up. It’s honestly been the best decision ever,” she admits.

She added to OK! magazine: “Theatre can feel more scary and in television, you’re slightly protected by the fact you can do another take, and I was very comfortable in Emmerdale, but I wanted a change, I wanted to grow, and I wanted to do something that challenged me.”

Fiona first shared the exciting news with her fans on Instagram in October. Sharing a picture from the play, Fiona told her 102,000 followers: “I am so excited to be joining the cast of @222aghoststory Playing the role of Jenny in the UK Tour 2024. Being a part of this thrilling and brilliant play is an absolute dream. Feeling blessed and honoured to be joining such an amazing team! See you there! Starting Jan 2024.”

Fiona’s former Emmerdale co-star Samantha Giles was one of the first to comment, writing: “So thrilled the news is out. you’ll be amazing! Congratulations.” One of Fiona’s friends added: “Woo-hoo! So glad you can shout it from the rooftops! We are all ready to come get scared! So happy for you and so exciting!”

After leaving Emmerdale, Fiona had a star-studded farewell party where she bid goodbye to all her co-stars. Fiona admitted at the time: “It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. Leaving my Emmerdale family is a big thing and it wasn’t easy filming my last scenes. When you’ve been somewhere for that long and that’s your every day, it’s hard and feels sad. But as every actor knows, you need to challenge yourself and that’s very important too.”