Sandra Flaherty made her return to Emmerdale last week - and she's up to no good. The character, played by Joanne Mitchell, was last seen in the ITV soap last year when she reunited with her daughter at a caravan park in Wales as her alcohol addiction spiraled.
The mother and daughter drank together throughout their reunion which came after Liv's relationship with Vinny Dingle hit the rocks following the death of his dad, Paul. But things soon changes as Sandra panicked when she witnessed Liv suffering a seizure.
Her brother Aaron, who had tracked Liv down, explained that Liv had epilepsy and Sandra realized she was not fit to look after Liv and told her to return to the village. Since then, after a hard battle, Liv managed to get herself sober and reunite with boyfriend Vinny with the pair having become husband and wife after eloping.
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But their simple married life was rocked during scenes aired on Friday night (July 8) as Sandra waltzed back into their lives. She insisted she wanted to change and begged her daughter for help to get sober but Vinny wasn't convinced.
While Liv did appear to be willing to help, they did send her on her way but Sandra was soon found drunk in the graveyard by Liv and pal Gabby Thomas. Liv fell for Sandra’s act and ended up inviting her to stay with her. But her true reasons for return have since been revealed when newcomer Terry showed up as he stormed into their home and demanded his money, to which Liv offered to pay him off with her own cash.
Later, Liv met with Terry and paid him the money, with him admitting he was "glad to see the back of" Sandra while she said it was a relief to get him off her back. But it was all a rouse as at the end of the episode, it was revealed that Sandra and Terry were in cahoots as they split the £4,000 between themselves.
And it appears Sandra's plans to con her daughter aren't stopping there as she remarked: "If this goes according to plan, I'll rinse that girl for everything she's got!"
While Sandra's return may not be welcome, Joanne's, who plays her, is. Before she took on the role in 2016, Sandra was actually played by two other actresses. In 2006 Christine Brennan played Sandra and when the character returned in 2008, Janet Bamford was cast in the role.
But when Joanne took over the role, it wasn't actually her first time in the Dales as she's actually played two other characters in the Leeds-based soap before taking on the role of Liv's troubled mum. She portrayed DS Karen Barnborough in 2003, before returning in 2009 as Susan Davies. She also played a midwife in-between in 2006,
Joanne has also appeared in Doctors, Bad Girls, Holby City, Casualty, Heartbeat, A Touch of Frost and the former Rochdale-based school drama Waterloo Road as Mrs Turner. And she's also appeared in a rival soap.
The 50-year-old starred in Coronation Street in 2018. She played Marsha, the mother of Kayla Clifton, played by Mollie Winnard, and the ex-wife of twisted policeman Neil Clifton, played by Ben Cartwright, as part of the harrowing Bethany Platt grooming storyline.
But she is clearly enjoying being back in Emmerdale, recently sharing a beaming photo of herself alongside Isobel Steele, who plays on-screen daughter Liv, and Mandy Dingle actress Lisa Riley. "It’s an absolute dream working with these two queens @lisajaneriley @isobelsteelee ," she penned before adding: "Contrary to what you’ll see our characters play out on screen#laughter #friendship #blessed @emmerdale @itv."
And over in the Dales, Joanne has a piece of home with her as her husband is a famous Emmerdale star. She is married to Dominic Brunt, who has starred in the soap as Paddy Kirk since 1997.
The Macclesfield-born actor, 51, met Joanne at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and got married in 2003. They share two children and in 2011 they co-founded Mitchell Brunt Films together.
Recently speaking about working together in the same soap, Joanne said: "I haven’t seen Dominic at the studios yet since I’ve been back this time,” Joanne explained. “It’s fun to be on the same show but I’ve not actually worked with him yet. We haven’t had any scenes together as our characters live separate lives in the village."
Over a decade ago the couple were terrified they were going to lose their son Danny when he needed urgent heart bypass surgery after being diagnosed with a heart condition at eight months old. Dominic told the Mirror in 2018, when his son was nine: "At the time it was horrific. You’re in the eye of the storm, it was horrible. You think you are going to lose your son.
"We had only just got to know him – he was eight months old, and we thought that was it. We discussed organ donation. It was brought up by a nurse because there was a mortality rate with the operation. We had to discuss it, but even before that we’d all agreed to be donors in the family – my sisters are nurses so it was how we were brought up." Thankfully, Danny pulled through and he even appeared with his dad on ITV's Big Star's Little Star.
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