Emmerdale officially confirms return of iconic villain for "explosive" scenes with new first look
Cue the fireworks!
Patsy Kensit is officially heading back to Emmerdale village as Sadie King, the ITV soap has confirmed.
It was first rumoured last month that Kensit, who kickstarted her career as a child star before going on to appear in films such as Lethal Weapon 2, was reprising her iconic soap role.
Glamorous Sadie first arrived in the Dales in 2004, jetting in via helicopter and surprising her husband Jimmy King (Nick Miles). It soon became clear that she was disapproving of Charity Dingle's (Emma Atkins) relationship with her father-in-law Tom (Ken Farrington).
She masterminded a scandal, snapping photos of Charity kissing her cousin Cain (Jeff Hordley), and then presenting them to Tom at the altar. Sadie also enjoyed romances with Cain, Jimmy's brother Matthew (Matt Healy) and a young Robert Sugden (then Karl Davies).
After her divorce from Jimmy, she joined forces with Cain to sabotage the King's River show home – which exploded and killed three characters. The two then orchestrated a plot to kidnap Tom, though he double-crossed her and kept the ransom money for himself.
A tense face-off ensued, Cain shot her, but it was revealed to be staged so that she could flee the village.
Speaking of the character's return Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Patsy Kensit back to the cast and crucially to see the iconic Sadie King storm back into the village.
"Her return will be explosive and guaranteed to shock. Sadie’s seductive demeanor, combined with her utterly ruthless nature, are set to deliver a spectacular and highly dramatic touch of class to the Yorkshire Dales.”
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Kensit added: "I am really excited to return to Emmerdale. I treasure the years I was here before. Sadie King is a character that I really loved playing.
"The cast and crew are absolutely brilliant and I am so grateful for the chance to return to the show, it’s absolutely amazing."
After leaving the serial in 2006, Kensit went on to appear as ward sister Faye Morton in Holby City for three years, and enjoyed a stint as the scandalous Emma Harding in EastEnders.
Sadie will return to Emmerdale later this year, and there's a lot of old faces for her to catch up with.
Aside from Jimmy, Cain and Robert, we can't imagine that Charity and the rest of the Dingles will be pleased to see her.
There could be a frosty response from Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) too, as he lost his childhood home – Home Farm – to the King clan when Sadie forced Zoe Tate (the late Leah Bracknell) to hand it over.
The manor house is famously the domain of Kim Tate (Claire King), could she try to defend her territory from Sadie once again?
Read more:
- 4 Emmerdale spoilers next week: Robert Sugden and Aaron Dingle hunt for mystery arsonist and Dawn Fletcher in grave danger
- Emmerdale airs surprise jury verdict in Bear, Paddy and Dylan's trial in early ITVX release
- Emmerdale star teases "complex year" ahead for Charity Dingle after nightmare labour in early ITVX release
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
