Natalie Ann Jamieson has opened up on her departure from Emmerdale. The actress played the role of Amy Wyatt in the soap for almost six years. The star first joined the ITV soap in 2019 and left in heartbreaking scenes last month. The character died from a cardiac arrest after catching severe hypothermia after a limo became lodged in ice after a crash.
The fictional Yorkshire village was embroiled in chaos after two cars were involved in a crash on Valentine’s Day on a frozen lake. Amy found herself under water when the icy lake gave way underneath her. Despite being dragged out of the water, she soon succumbed to her poor health in hospital.
After the final scenes were aired, she said: “Goodbye Amy [heart-broken emoji] I have had the best six years of my life playing this gobby Geordie with a heart of gold!” In an interview with our sister site, Mirror Online, Natalie has lifted the lid on her exit as she revealed the ball started rolling when she quizzed bosses on the direction of her character.
The 37-year-old said: “I had been asking for meetings about what was coming up for Amy and saying that I’d really like some challenging, new stuff. Natalie had mixed feelings about her exit plot initially as she said: “When they told me, I was like, ‘Oh!’ It’s really hard to know whether you would prefer for your character to die if you’re going, or to go in the back of a taxi.”
In an interview with Bang Showbiz, the actress revealed that she couldn’t contain her emotions when she got the news that Amy was going to be written out of the show. She said: “There was just loads of crying. It’s very emotional when you’re saying goodbye to a character that you’ve played for six years for sure.
Natalie said it has been emotional “non-stop” because every time she had a last day on set with somebody that she wasn’t gonna work with again the emotions would come back again. Even watching the TV made the soap star upset as she watched the storyline play out on screen.
While the actress will now look ahead to the future and new ventures, she admits “it will be emotional for a long, long time. We get really attached to our characters.” Natalie did not know her character was going to be caught up in the shock car smash that killed three characters, Suzy Merton, Leyla Harding and Amy Wyatt.
Th Emmerdale star admitted she would have been open to returning as Amy in the future if her alter ego had exited the Dales in a taxi. The 2019 TV Choice Awards Best Newcomer nominee said: “It was amazing getting to do all of that as she reflected on her time in the village.