13 hours ago
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April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) has endured far more than any child should in Emmerdale.
After a period living on the streets, during which she met future love, Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) and suffered a stillbirth, she returned to the village and into the waiting arms of her dad Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), though it was clear that the trauma she’d experienced had changed her on a fundamental level.
When Dylan followed April to the village, he brought with him the dark spectre of Ray Walters (Joe Absolom), who was grooming the homeless and vulnerable youngster into selling drugs for him, later ensnaring April herself in the operation through a fake mugging.
As their situation got more and more desperate, April tried to escape the drugs racket, but found herself in the sights of the true power behind the criminal enterprise that’d infiltrated the village: the pure evil and utterly ruthless Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths).
Soon, it wasn’t just drug dealing Celia was pushing April into, she also expected her to act as a prostitute, engineering a scenario in which April believed she’d killed a client to trap her even further in the grim business.
Despite the threats against their family and Celia’s attempted murder of Dylan, April bravely reported all she knew to the police after Celia’s involvement in human trafficking and modern slavery was revealed, before the head was cut off the snake, when Ray stabbed Celia to death before being murdered by Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards).
To put it plainly, the girl could use a break!
Speaking exclusively to Metro at the Inside Soap awards, Amelia talked about how she felt being a centre piece of the incredibly dark storyline: ‘I found it really exciting – amazing to be so involved in such an important storyline. I really have loved every second of it.’
Speaking further on the grim topics the story addressed, Amelia said: ‘I think it was so heartbreaking when I did some researching into county lines and how common it is and how easy it is to be missed by the public.
‘There was this special episode with Dawn where she sees and relates to what April is going through, there was a line really stood out to me: ‘It can happen to anyone around you and you’d have no idea’ and it was happening to April right then.
‘I think it’s so amazing to see the representation – it really opened my eyes personally, that this happens all the time and that it goes unnoticed.
‘It’s really important to realise and looking into how to recognise.’
Since escaping the terrifying underworld she found herself so deeply trapped in, Amelia is relishing the opportunity to play in some lighter plots: ‘It’s nice to see her in a more positive space – she’s finished her GCSEs and now she’s doing her A-Levels.
‘After all the horribleness that went on , she can improve and live her life and go on to do amazing things.’
When asked what she hopes the future holds for her alter-ego, Amelia confirmed she’d like to see her character continue on a brighter path as she continues to put her traumatic past behind her: ‘I just hope that she continues to look into the positives of the future.
‘She’s been doing really well, focusing on her education, trying to get somewhere in life and I think we will see much more positivity in the future which I am really excited for.’
As agonising as it was to see April endure all she did, Amelia proved her undeniable acting chops within the story, and April has more than earned a bit of positivity in her life!
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