Disaster causes real tears in The Royal

Natalie Anderson has revealed how she was in real pain while filming disaster scenes for the new series of The Royal.

The ITV hospital drama returns on Sunday 14 December and it doesn't take long for disaster to strike when an amusement arcade collapses.

Natalie, who plays nurse Stella Davenport, said the filming unfortunately took place after she was involved in a car accident.

"I had just had someone go into the back of my car so had whiplash and had hurt my shoulder. We had to make it that my shoulder and my arm were the parts of me that were damaged," she said.

"There's scenes where [Stella's] crying and I'm actually crying because I was in so much pain (from the crash injuries)."

Natalie also revealed that the episode features a crucial development in Stella's love life - when ambulance driver Frankie goes into the wreckage after her.

"He very heroically goes in and tries to save her… there's a lot of confessions between them, and intimacy and you see that they could actually make this work.

"She's not that flirty, feisty girl anymore. He's been through the mill as well with his relationship so they're possibly like two lost souls who could make it work," she said.