Emmerdale actress Lucy Pargeter has been playing Chas Dingle for two decades and it’s safe to say viewers couldn’t imagine her playing anyone else.
However the star has revealed that she initially auditioned for a different Dingle clan role.
Lucy’s character Chas was originally not in the script but after her audition show bosses created a whole new character.
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In fact she auditioned for the role of Charity - her trouble-making cousin played by Emma Atkins.
Speaking to Inside Soap Lucy said: "I'd auditioned for a couple of parts before – one was a trucker and one was Charity. I got down to the final three for that.
"I knew James Hooton who plays Sam Dingle from drama classes and he said to me, 'Apparently you did something weird with your head in the audition and that put them off!', so I was like, 'Oh god!'.
“Then he called me and said there was a rumour they were bringing in another Dingle woman; they wanted her to be a bit like Charity but they were thinking about my audition and writing it around that. So I knew Chas would be strong and feisty."
Lucy is in disbelief that she is still on the ITV hit soap since joining in 2002 and went on to say that she never takes the opportunity for granted.
"As an actor you never have the luxury of planning ahead because you don't know when the next job is coming. It can be dangerous to get too comfortable in a job... But you should always see every working day as your first and try as hard as you did [back then]."
Her character Chas has provided viewers with a lot of drama and Lucy says she has "mellowed" her but that she still has some surprises up her sleeve.
"She's mellowed an awful lot. It used to be that if you looked at her wrong, that would be it – she'd be jumping over the bar and attacking you! But now she's settled for the first time in a long time, with someone who's quite normal.
"But I still find her interesting because she's always doing something that you wouldn't expect."
Speaking about her onscreen love life she said: "Paddy has to be the love of her life and they've been through so much. He's dependable and there's no danger. But there's part of Chas still burning in there that likes a bit of danger which is what she got from Carl King played by Tom Lister.
“They're complete opposites – one gives her excitement, and one gives her stability and loves her unconditionally. If you could just combine them together it would be perfect!"
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