Emmerdale actress Nicola Wheeler has opened up about having surgery right before filming the brutal attack scene which left her character Nicola King traumatised.
The 48-year-old revealed on This Morning that production bosses had to bring in a stunt double to film parts of the scene as she had just undergone hip replacement surgery. During the episode, Nicola was mugged, beaten and left bloodied on the ground before losing consciousness.
The star told ITV presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby: "I took a couple of months off for a hip replacement and they told me about this story and they said: 'what we are going to do is we are going to bring you back and beat you up, is that ok?'"
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"I said 'fine, but I can't throw myself on the floor' so the stunt double did anything truly physical just because obviously I was still healing."
Since the attack, Nicola's character has been struggling to process what happened to her as well as accept help from her loved ones. Nicola told This Morning viewers that on-screen Nicola believes she has recovered before things actually get "worse and worse".
"She doesn't handle the vulnerable side of herself very well, she always sees herself as the powerhouse of the family, she's the support and she doesn't accept the help that's on offer either," Nicola said about her character.
"She's got a great network of support with her friends and family but she decides to take the route of lying that she's okay and it backfires totally as we see this week and next week."
Nicola also teased a big plotline for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the ITV soap but remained otherwise tight-lipped despite Phillips attempts to coax more information out of her. She said: "Something does come up in the future, just when you think this story may have been put to bed something else comes along and then obviously we've got our 50th year and maybe something might happen which might mean she can't spend time in the village anymore."
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