Stabbed to death last night by her right-hand man Ray Walters, farmer Celia Daniels finally got the comeuppance many Emmerdale fans feel she deserved. But actress Jaye Griffiths shares her sadness at being written out of the soap
After roles in The Bill, Silent Witness, EastEnders, Doctors and Casualty, Jaye Griffiths, who played her, feels it was a tragic end to one of the best roles she has ever had. But she knew it was time for the wicked drug dealer to meet a suitably grizzly end. And who better to deliver her punishment than fellow villain Ray, played brilliantly by Joe Absolom.
When Ray refuses to leave the village, because he’s fallen in love with Laurel Thomas and wants a new life, he and Celia have a furious clash and he delivers the fatal blows. Jaye, 62, admits: “Working on Emmerdale has been one of my best TV jobs ever. “There is still that thing of women being maternal, caring and the givers. Celia was none of these and I’ve loved playing her.
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“It has also been very hard to face the reality of leaving and it took me ages to learn my lines, because I was so resistant to it happening. It came to my last scene and I nearly cried, then I had to lie on the cold floor pretending to be dead. It has been very hard.”
Praised by fellow Emmerdale actors for her portrayal of evil Celia, she has been described as one of the nastiest characters the soap has ever seen. Jaye feels this is a major accolade given that the soap has seen everything from serial killers to rapists.
“It is flattering to hear this because there have been some really good ones [villains]” she says. “Celia has been a shocker and I am glad I didn’t shy away from having no scruples – not even half a one. If she told someone she was going to hurt them, she did.
“I found it liberating to be that unfeeling and, since finishing filming, I’ve missed the soap so much. To suddenly have no scenes to learn, no call sheets – it’s been really tough.” Joining Emmerdale has been “life changing” for Jaye, who arrived in the Dales in June.
The mastermind behind an enormous crime ring, some of Celia’s most heinous actions have included forcing April into prostitution, human trafficking, running a modern slavery den and extorting money wherever possible – including from Rhona and Marlon Dingle.
She also brainwashed Ray into calling her ‘mum,’ while hiding behind a front of an ordinary farmer. And in November, Jaye disclosed how she had been the victim of crime herself, when she broke down on ITV’s Loose women and told how she had once been involved with an abusive partner.
Now happily married, she disclosed: “If you made the tea the wrong way, that could have consequences. I was told I was useless.” And she is now trying to help other victims of domestic abuse through Refuge and two other charities. She says: “I am glad I have opened up. I am going to meet the people at Refuge to see if I can help them and two other charities – this role has changed my life.”
Meanwhile, she will miss being part of Emmerdale and praises the cast for their commitment and friendliness. She says: “Everybody wants to work, there is nobody skiving and nobody trying to get out of hard work. Everybody wants to be there and you feel safe all the time. If you make a mistake, nobody comments and equally, if you want to run through a scene before filming, nine times out of ten someone will say ‘yes’. Nobody is too cool for school.”
Despite her sadness at being written out, she knows it was Celia’s moment to meet her maker. She says: “Oh gosh yes she had to be killed off. Otherwise, she would have gone and done it to another family. There is no redemption for Celia unless she had a complete change of character. But then even if she could come back, what would she do? No, it’s right she has been murdered.
“She lost control, too. Suddenly, Ray didn’t do as he was told. She wasn’t happy that Ray was in love with Laurel and him not wanting to leave the village was catastrophic for Celia. The idea that Ray wanted to live some cute suburban life was preposterous to Celia. It didn’t occur to her that he wanted a change in life.”
And away from the set, she says fans spotting her in the local supermarket have been delighted to meet the real Celia. “They have had lots of salacious pleasure meeting her,” she chuckles. “Even though it’s not real, there is a frisson of meeting someone who they wouldn’t want to meet in real life. They meet Celia when they meet me and while they don’t like her, they also kind of adore her.”
While viewers will feel Celia got her just desserts, they will also miss her, according to Jaye. She adds: “They will slightly miss having someone irreplaceably bad. All the other characters do bad things for good reasons when plans go wrong. They don’t do it like Celia. I think they will miss that.”
And Jaye is pleased that playing Celia meant highlighting some important issues. She says: “I am also pleased we could shine a light on modern day slavery. Sadly, it does happen all around us.” Despite only just being written out, Jaye actually filmed her final scenes at the end of November, when she was treated to a big leaving do.
She says: “I drank far too much red wine, but I also got to keep Celia’s stick and hat. “It’s been a blast and even when I baulked at some of the lines she had to say, it was always so much fun. It nearly broke my heart when I left the set for good.”
Since her final day, she has been relaxing at home in Hertfordshire, spending Christmas with her family and two rescue dogs. And she has a new role on the horizon, although she is remaining tight lipped for now. “I can’t tell you about the role yet as I have signed so many non-disclosure forms,” she says. “But I will never forget Emmerdale. The dressing rooms are shared, nobody is in isolation and you always have a buddy. There is always someone to lend an ear and I think that is why Emmerdale is such a special place.”
*Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 7:30 PM on ITV1 and STV, or from 7:00 AM on ITVX and STV Player.
