Whether it’s with a carefully placed handbag, a particularly baggy jumper or by dodging behind another person on set, Emmerdale actress Laura Norton has become an expert in hiding.
That might seem an odd thing to do for an actress, but needs must when you are eight months pregnant – and your character is not.
Laura, who plays Kerry Wyatt, says: “The biggest problem is hiding it as I seem to be exploding every week.
“I’m wearing a lot of baggy clothes and using well-placed handbags, and there’s been a lot of mid-shots.
“Some things are trickier, though, like when they’re filming wide shots. So I’ve been standing behind people quite a lot of the time.”
But if she thought her pregnancy would mean her character was in for a quiet time, she was wrong, as Laura has “high-energy” scenes in stunt-filled episodes for the show’s 50th anniversary.
The milestone next month promises to be an “explosive” affair as a destructive storm wreaks havoc on Emmerdale and puts the lives of villagers in danger.
Laura, 39, says: “I’m involved in quite a few storylines – so busy on Emmerdale at the moment I haven’t had time to think about the baby’s arrival. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing as it’s getting really close, really quickly.
“I do have to be extra-cautious and have a stunt double on set, but it’s always very exciting when we do these episodes and I do have a lot of energy still, which is good, as they’ve been writing in some high-energy stuff for me.”
Laura’s baby will be her second with fiancé Mark Jordon, 57, her former Emmerdale co-star. They met when Mark joined as Kerry’s brother-in-law Daz Spencer in 2014, and got engaged four years later.
Laura says: “I absolutely never expected when I joined Emmerdale that I would meet my future partner on the show, although there’s been a few other off-set romances on the soap.
“It was never weird doing scenes with him. We loved working together from the moment he started in 2014 and we would practise with our scripts at home.
“One of my favourite scenes I’ve ever done was when his daughter Amelia went missing and everybody thought Daz was responsible for it, and we had this big scene where Kerry had a breakdown and accused him.
“It was a really long bit where I had to really lose it and get quite aggressive with him. We practised it in my flat the night before. God knows what the neighbours were thinking.
“But it was great because we had time to rehearse it, which you don’t really get to do here, so it was a bit of a bonus.”
Laura gave birth to their son Jesse in January 2021, in the midst of the third UK coronavirus lockdown.
She says: “The first time round I couldn’t come into work, as they weren’t sure how the virus affected pregnancy.
“I had the whole of the time off from the soap then another seven months after having Jesse. I was hardly seeing anybody. I saw Mark, and my mum and dad were allowed to come and visit to help out when he was filming.
“It was very strange when everything opened up with a baby because of how scared everybody was. When I was pregnant with Jesse, I had all day every day to just think about my bump. Now I don’t have that time, I’m not too worried, I’m feeling a lot more chilled about it all.”
But the impending arrival of their second child means Laura and Mark have had to put off walking down the aisle yet again. Laura says: “We would have loved to have got married by now, but every time something gets in the way.
“I keep telling people it’s the longest engagement ever, but we had the Covid lockdown, then Jesse and now we’re having our second.”
She insists they will marry eventually, but she is not planning a massive wedding like Kerry’s, when she strutted down the aisle in a hilarious, over-the-top dress that screamed Katie Price.
Laura says: “I won’t be wearing something like that – I’ll be going for something a bit more low-key. Once upon a time I might have thought of something big, but life has changed, so something quick and easy I think now.”
Laura, who was born in Newcastle, began her acting career while still in her teens at a local youth theatre.
She was in Byker Grove, Vera and 55 Degrees North, before, in 2012, she made her first appearance in Emmerdale.
She has just celebrated her “Kerryversary” – her 10th year on the soap – and says it would be “amazing” to be there in another decade. She says: “It would be great to be a part of it for that long, and God knows what stunts they’d be doing then. It would be incredible.”
Highlights of her time on the show so far include Kerry’s wedding to Dan Spencer, played by Liam Fox, in 2014, and the helicopter crash a year later.
She says: “That was really big. I got to be involved in a sad storyline and was able to show a different side to my character when Ruby Haswell died and Kerry and Dan were with her.
“I also loved the live episode we did to mark the 40th anniversary in 2012. I’d just joined, and only had four lines so the pressure was off. It meant I got to stand back and watch it all and it had an incredible atmosphere.
“There’s been so many good bits over the past 10 years and there is more to come. I just filmed a scene where I was able to give a bit of an unexpected performance from Kerry. I think it will go down in Emmerdale history as a bit of a funny moment.”
Laura also thinks the storm storyline could be one of the biggest for the ITV soap and her character. She says: “Kerry gets caught in the storm, and there’s a big fallout for her. The event is such a milestone, and it’s going to look really good on screen. I think the viewers will be hyped for the 50th anniversary. It will be the catalyst for a lot of other things. There will also be some comeuppance for people too.”
The storm could also be set to expose the affair Kerry’s boyfriend Al Chapman ( Michael Wildman ) has been having with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter).
Laura hints that sparks will fly between Kerry and Chas. She says: “Viewers love to see two feisty women against each other. When that blows up it’s going to be really big.”
- Emmerdale is on every weekday at 7.30pm. You can download catch-up episodes on the ITV Hub
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