Deena Payne ‘disappointed’ by Emmerdale exit

Deena Payne has admitted she was ‘disappointed’ by her on-screen exit from Emmerdale.

Warning: Contains minor spoilers

Deena Payne has admitted he was ‘disappointed’ by her on-screen exit from Emmerdale. The actress has played village gossip Viv Hope (formerly Windsor) since the 1990s and it was announced late last year that the character was to be written out of the Yorkshire soap. There was much speculation amongst fans as to how Viv would bow out of the soap and last night many had their theories confirmed. Viv, along with Terry (Billy Hartman) were the two victims of a fire that ripped through part of the village.

However, actress Deena Payne has spoken off her disappointment over her exit from Emmerdale in an interview with The Mirror. Payne called the exit an “anti-climax” and admitted she was “disappointed” by it.

“I was very disappointed with my departure. And I think the viewers will be, too. Having followed Viv for so long and travelled with her on her ups and downs, I think they’d want a better build-up so they could really get into it and give her a good send-off. I was promised a big storyline. Instead, it’s probably the easiest exit in soap history because I didn’t have to act at all. I wasn’t even involved in the dramatic rescue scenes.” – Deena Payne in The Mirror

The actress went on to describe how she had little to do in her final few episodes and was barely involved in the dramatic episodes.

“Over my three last episodes I had one scene in each, with the house burning down without Viv knowing it – and that was my storyline. I had to do nothing, which was a shame,” she told the paper. “It’s a bit of an anti-climax after being told that you’re going to have one of the biggest storylines that soap has ever seen, but for my character, it wasn’t at all. The big storyline is the fire and how people get everyone out. And quietly, behind the scenes, Viv just gets burned to death. Without saying a word. The easiest acting I’ve done in 18 years!” – Deena Payne in The Mirror

The actress also revealed in the interview she felt ‘let down’ by the soap when she discovered her character was not to be buried in the village graveyard.

“What did really hurt me – what did get me and is a bit disloyal to the fans and to Viv – is the fact that she isn’t even buried in Emmerdale,” she said. “If they had to kill me off, they could at least have given me a nice funeral befitting Viv, instead of being shunted out of the Dales. You can’t be in a soap forever. But I feel let down by the way Viv’s been written out. Viv was a strong character, central to village life in the post office, and it’s a shame she’s not being buried next to her ex-husband Vic in the graveyard and doesn’t even have a headstone there.” – Deena Payne in The Mirror

Deena Payne also stated in the interview that while producers claimed they had asked back Viv’s family when she contacted the actors they stated ‘they hadn’t even been asked’.

“It would have been nice, too, to have seen Donna, Scott and Kelly, Viv’s kids and stepdaughter, just to have got a little bit of the past back into the now. They’re losing the history of the village. They said they couldn’t get them. But I was on the phone with them immediately and they said they hadn’t even been asked and of course they’d come back. And Kelly, played by Adele Silva, is coming back in the show anyway! It is a shame for Viv and for everyone who’s been watching her.” – Deena Payne in The Mirror

Earlier this week the two deaths in the fire were accidentally revealed in a television listing magazine. As already stated most fans had already guessed that Viv would be one of the victims of the fire but there was much speculation over the identity of the second victim.