Emmerdale airs character exit in emotional ITVX edition

Gail had spent the past few weeks scrambling to acquire more responsibility at The Woolpack, where she worked as a barmaid and had also been living with boyfriend Ryan Stocks (James Moore).

Ryan co-owns the pub with mum Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), but the computer specialist is happier behind the scenes, while Gail wrongly believed that he shared her aspirations to run the place together.

Unaware that her idea for a couples' game of 'Mr & Mrs' had already existed for years, Gail ran a trial contest and was upset to realise that she and Ryan didn't know each other as well as she thought.

There was also a hilarious mix-up when Gail assumed that Ryan loved gnocchi for dinner, when in fact, at the time of moving in together, he clearly intended for something else to be on the menu every night!

Gail's concern for their relationship resulted in her spending the night on the sofa at Mary Goskirk's (Louise Jameson) home, and Mary encouraged Gail to deal with her problems.

Ryan was relieved when Gail returned to the pub, but she gently revealed that she couldn't stay with him, as no one took her seriously and they had become more like friends than lovers.

He begged Gail not to leave him, but she explained she had spoken to an old friend who offered her a job running a B&B in Devon.

She promised that she and Ryan would always be friends, and that they would always have son Oscar (Harley Hamilton), who was adopted but now in touch with his biological parents.

The pair shared a warm goodbye, but there was one final, typically daft Gail moment.

The well-meaning but naïve woman asked a passing Sam Dingle (James Hooton) to wish his wife Lydia (Karen Blick) a happy birthday, adding that Lydia was "catching up" to Sam who looked good for a man in his sixties!

"I've done it again, haven't I?" Gail exclaimed as an unimpressed Sam walked away.

But as she headed off to the train station, driven by Mary, a nervous but excited Gail set off for a new adventure.

Will we see Gail again one day? Her presence will certainly be missed behind the bar!

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Emmerdale airs Mondays to Fridays at 7:30pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.

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