Emmerdale’s Natalie J Robb has opened up about her own health scare amid a devastating storyline for her character Moira Dingle.
During Matty’s (Ash Palmsciano) time in prison, Moira became increasingly stressed and overwhelmed. Understandably, she was doing everything in her power to try and prove Matty never intentionally stabbed Samson Dingle (Sam Hall).
When Matty eventually returned home though, Moira’s behaviour didn’t get better. Instead, things have gotten worse.
She is arguing with Cain (Jeff Hordley) most days and reaching for alcohol more often than normal. Yesterday, the most concerning twist so far aired which saw Moira have a seizure.
She had a headache in the morning but insisted it wasn’t a hangover, pointing out that the bottle of whisky was still unopened. Cain still accused her of ‘hiding bottles and getting smashed.’ He was so concerned that he refused to leave Kyle (Huey Quinn) alone with her, and took his reluctant son to work with him instead.
Moira seems to be unaware that she has a problem and looked genuinely mystified by Cain’s accusations, She’s also looked puzzled previously when he described her outbursts of aggression, as if she genuinely couldn’t remember what happened.
Cain dismissed Nate’s (Jurell Carter) comments about the menopause and stuck to his belief that it was the alcohol to blame. Seeing that Cain was at the end of his tether with the whole situation, Nate implored him to try harder to get through to Moira and save their marriage.
You can’t blame Cain – who likes life to be fairly straightforward and predictable – for being confused by his wife’s behaviour. One minute she’s throwing glassware at his head and physically attacking him and the next minute she’s being flirtatious and loving.
Later in the episode we started to get an explanation, as it became apparent that Moira is ill.
She was alone in the barn tending to a sick animal. As she turned to leave she suddenly stopped, dropped the bucket she was carrying and fell to the ground like a dead weight – and had a seizure.
Right now, we have no idea what’s wrong with this beloved character. For Natalie J Robb who plays Moira, she knows exactly what it’s like to face the possibility of a life-changing health ordeal.
‘It was pretty scary as I found a lump in my right breast’, she explained to the Mirror.
‘I went to see the doctor who told me they were more worried about one on my left breast. I asked what they meant as I couldn’t feel anything. It was higher up. I went into overdrive and I had to go for a mammogram. Thankfully, it was a cyst and it was benign. Something like that does change your perspective though and I try to be as healthy and fit as I can be now.’
Reflecting on her reaction to Moira’s storyline, Natalie explained: ‘I knew I wanted to play my part in helping to raise awareness. A soap can play such a big role in shining a light on many different illnesses, as it has so brilliantly this year with Chas’ cancer diagnosis.
‘As a soap actress, you are very much in the lap of the gods when it comes to your character and what happens to them. But I think it is important we do cover serious illnesses that hopefully will help people know they aren’t alone. I know I would be petrified if I started to have seizures and had no idea why.’
‘It’s a challenging role and a big responsibility’, she added.
‘I have learnt a lot about different seizures you can have and I have been working closely with an expert. He has been giving me lots of wonderful advice on how to show little visual signs, even subtle things when you do have a seizure.
‘It’s been important to me to show how much it affects a person. It takes everything out of your body and the confusion afterwards is very hard.
‘My heart goes out to people who have gone or who are going through this.’
