She may play a sexy siren in Emmerdale, but being in the soap hasn’t helped Rosie Bentham ’s love life.
In recent months, the single star’s character Gabby has gone from being a shy schoolgirl to a feisty young woman.
And while Rosie’s scantily-clad Instagram snaps mean she is rarely short of male attention, she reckons fans are more interested in finding out spoilers than finding love.
Rosie, 21, says: “The biggest red flag is when someone says to me, ‘So, tell me what’s going to happen next’.
“It’s obvious at that point they’re not interested in me, they’re just trying to get spoilers out of me.
“It’s nice if someone says, ‘Oh, my gran watches it’ – but I don’t think many 21-year-old boys are genuinely interested in watching soaps.”
Rosie first appeared on the ITV soap when she was 15 and used to be chaperoned on set by her parents.
She cringes as she recalls them watching her first on-screen kiss.
“It was nerve-wracking,” Rosie says. “Not only was I young, but I had my parents sat behind a screen watching everything. We had to do the kiss quite a few times as well, which was awkward. I was so embarrassed.”
Rosie is loving life at Emmerdale, but the past six years have not always been easy.
Soon after her arrival in 2016, a devastating storyline saw her on-screen father, vicar Ashley (John Middleton), die from vascular dementia.
Then, just two years later, Rosie’s own father, who was also a clergyman, died from a pulmonary embolism.
“I will never get over the weird resemblance between real-life and Emmerdale,” she says. “The connection is just so bizarre for me.
“I had two months off to let it all sink in but work was a saving grace in that it gave me something else to focus on.”
Both Rosie and her character have done a lot of growing up in the past few years – and now Gabby is working for bitchy Emmerdale legend Kim Tate (Claire King), the sky’s the limit.
“Gabby is Kim’s little protégé,” Rosie laughs. “I love playing tough and ruthless and having scenes where I’m the bad woman because it’s not like me at all.
“They’re dressing me up and giving me a sexy Kim secretary-type look.
“It’s fun… I rock up to work in joggers and hoodies and they put me in skirts and heels. I’m literally transformed.
“Claire’s are big boots to fill… but I reckon I could do it.”
