Emmerdale's Jaye Griffiths teases ruthless Celia's exit and reveals character's "moment of weakness"

This article includes reference to violent acts that some readers may find upsetting.

Jaye Griffiths has confirmed that her Emmerdale character, Celia Daniels, won't be around forever.

The actress stars as the ruthless kingpin behind Ray Walters's (Joe Absolom) drugs operation, and modern slavery is also being explored with the pair at the helm.

Chatting to RadioTimes.com and other media, Griffiths was asked if she always knew the full picture for her time on the ITV soap.

"I knew it was finite, which I am very sad about, because I would like to stay forever," she explained.

"It's such a strong arc."

Celia also happens to have mothered Ray since he was a youngster, and with Ray taking a shine to Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy), Celia is in for a shock when she spots them looking close.

"So that scene is, Laurel goes to kiss him, and he won't kiss her," summed up Griffiths.

To Celia, this is actually all the proof she needs that Ray cares deeply for Laurel, and for the first time, we get an insight into the inner workings of Celia's mind.

"That breaks Celia's heart, because that means she's not a floozy, she's not a one-off. That he's so serious about her, he won't even kiss her.

"He likes her that much, and that is too real for Celia. So now the possibility is he might leave her, and I think that would come close to breaking Celia," she added.

"It was only four lines in that scene of, 'it broke her heart to witness it', and then she covers it up, of course.

"That was one moment we could show an inch of fragility, a moment of weakness, because otherwise you just see her strolling about hurting people."

On Celia's possessive streak, the star revealed "she is very much about losing control of [Ray], but underneath that it’s about someone else loving him, 'he’s mine'.

"She has managed their situation because they move so frequently, that she's the only one he relies on, the one he turns to, the one who's forever sorting things out for him and with him.

"To lose that, that would mean Celia was truly alone in the universe, and I'm not sure she's ready for that."

So, what's the biggest challenge in playing such a callous character?

"When you have to shut down. Shut down all feeling, shut down any regard you have for the people you're with," said the actress.

"So when they say, 'turn over', you just don't care. That is exhausting.

"When we do rehearsals, particularly if I'm going to be violent, and you hear the crew go, 'ooh' and then you have to go, 'oh, I'm nice, really, I'm not really a sociopath, please don’t eat me! It's just pretend!'

"Shutting down is really interesting, to 'nothing you do will make me change my mind'. It doesn't matter if you cry or beg or scream or fight, nothing's happening because it’s just you and your world, I don't care. Simply don't care," Griffiths shared, showcasing how she switches between herself and her soap persona.

"So that's very freeing, but very tiring, because caring about your fellow humans is what makes you a human. Empathy for your fellow humans is what makes life, life. So to not have that, I get very lonely, sometimes. It’s weird."

Despite the tough elements of playing Celia, she assured us that she loves the role.

"She doesn't have many laughs, I’m hardly swinging from the rafters but no, it's just so wonderful to explore someone who doesn't mind whether you like [them] or not, because your opinion is of less than no value.

"It simply doesn't cross her mind that you have one or that I should take any note of it. So it makes her big and to never be afraid, to never feel fear, because the worst that could happen has already happened, and she survived."

At that hint of Celia's past, she reveals a rather startling backstory as to one of the character's key fashion choices.

This serves to explain a recent scene in which Celia has dinner with Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw), and those who are squeamish may want to look away now!

"She wears a cravat because someone has tried to cut her head off. So it's very subtle, and it's only halfway across, because obviously they didn't succeed in cutting her throat, and that's why she wears the cravat.

"I asked our execs if they would not tell scripts, because I don't want it ever mentioned. So there's a lovely bit where Bob looks at my neck and then his eyes flick away, and that's the only time, that's it.

"It's just a hint of a former life, a life elsewhere that bad things have happened to her."

Discussing the reception she's received so far on Emmerdale, Griffiths said "they like her. Yes, they like her brashness at the moment."

But she was quick to point out that this will change as the story progresses.

"Everybody, they come up to me in the street and tell me how much they love Celia and you think, ‘yeah, that's not going to last!’

"That's so not going to last and I want to remind people that it's just pretend and I am really nice and I'm not a sociopath. It's so not gonna last, I'm gonna get hate mail!

"I keep having these caveats because I know what's coming. So we shall watch this space. We shall see."

Emmerdale is working with the Salvation Army on this storyline.

Read more:

• Joe Absolom reveals Emmerdale villain Ray's truth behind Laurel connection amid "subservient" dynamic with Celia
• 5 Emmerdale spoilers next week: Kev Townsend threatens Aaron Dingle after Robert Sugden reveal
• Emmerdale confirms three special episodes - including Robert Sugden prison revelations and Bear mystery solved
• 5 Emmerdale spoilers: Aaron Dingle catches Robert Sugden kissing his secret husband Kev
• Emmerdale's Ryan Hawley teases Aaron's "explosive" reaction to Robert's secret husband – and backs surprise Kev story
• Chris Coghill reveals previous Emmerdale role and confirms true nature of new character Kev
• Emmerdale star Olivia Bromley teases “difficult” special episode for Dawn and April
• Emmerdale's Jaye Griffiths reveals future for Celia after shocking twist

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.

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