Emmerdale star Bradley Johnson, who plays Vinny Dingle on the long-running ITV soap, said the "emotion was real" during filming upcoming scenes as the village prepares to say goodbye to Liv and Faith in a heart-breaking double funeral.
Viewers have seen Liv's husband, Vinny, left in turmoil in recent weeks as he struggles to come to terms with his wife's tragic death after she was crushed by a caravan during the deadly windstorm that swept the Yorkshire village during the 50th anniversary.
And behind the scenes actor Bradley has also struggled to come to terms with his co-star Isobel Steele leaving as it marks the "end of an era" on one of Emmerdale's most popular couples.
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Opening up on how it was "easy to act" as he was genuinely upset, Bradley spoke of how in the running up to the funeral it felt like Issy had just been away on holiday but filming the upcoming emotional scenes was a pivotal moment for him where it dawned upon him that she wasn't coming back.
Bradley said: "Since Isobel left about three weeks ago, it just felt like she was on a really long holiday, but when we went to the funeral day and we saw the hearses with Liv’s name on it and the photos, especially in the coffin, it became real to me that I’m not going to be working with her again.
"I think in the short amount of time that Liv and Vinny have been together, there’s been some lovely, lovely scenes. We’ve been through so much together and conquered so much and in my opinion, it was cut far too short."
The funeral episode, which will air on Friday (October 28) at 7.30pm, will see two horse-drawn carriages carrying Faith and Liv’s coffins with the entire village coming to pay their respects.
The entire adult cast lined the main street in one of the shows biggest productions since before covid. Bradley explained. "It was so emotional, we were doing some acting down the bottom of the village so we didn’t see everyone actually on Main Street.
"But the director came down and went right ‘Bradley, I want you to walk around the corner and as you look up you’ll see the whole cast and they’re going to throw roses as the coffin goes past.’
"So obviously my head was down and the first time I saw everyone was when the camera kind of tilted round, and obviously because of Covid and stuff like that, it’s a rare sight to see every adult cast member being there.
"Obviously having the coffins there and having the hearses with the names on, it was a really, really emotional day but it should look amazing and really heartfelt."
Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw added: "We knew when we decided to do a joint funeral for Faith and Liv that it would need to be a very special and memorable funeral for two such hugely epic and much-loved characters. Having a scene featuring the entire adult cast was not something we had done before and given the funeral was taking place towards the end of our October 50th birthday month, it felt very right and fitting that we had the whole cast there to say goodbye.
"It was no easy feat for the Emmerdale production team to organise and execute and nor was it easy to shoot as the Dingles said farewell to not one but two of their beloved family, some of the tears that fell that day were absolutely real. But behind the tears and sadness there was also a celebratory feel on set.
"A feeling of pride and honour that the October month was ending with all our villagers united on Main Street, demonstrating that love and warmth and togetherness that has kept Emmerdale on our screens for 50 years."
The episode will air on Friday at 7.30pm on ITV.
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