Ex Emmerdale star Anne: I got bored and depressed

Anne Charleston has admitted she got 'seriously bored and depressed' towards the end of her stint in Emmerdale.

The actress played Lily Butterfield in the rural soap until last year, but the character rode out of the village on a motorbike with Eddy Fox (Paul Darrow).

She said: "I really wanted to do the show and I love the show and the character, but they just started to turn her into a special extra and I was seriously bored and depressed - I thought it was a pity because I think she had enormous possibilities.

"They just weren't giving me enough to do and I was away from home. If you're away from home, you need to be doing something interesting, otherwise it becomes a bit unbearable. If they'd done something good with the character I'd have loved to stay on."

However, she was pleased her exit stayed true to the spirit of her character.

"At least they gave me something to do in the last few weeks. That was quite fun. She was a mad character so at least they gave her back the qualities she had when she first came in. I went out on a bit of a high, which was nice."

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