Emmerdale star Jaye Griffiths has reacted to her exit from the soap, with the actor departing following the demise of Celia Daniels. Despite making a slew of enemies, it was somebody closer to home who brought about her downfall.

Griffiths debuted in the role of the feisty farmer in June, with the character being revealed as the head of a modern slavery and drug dealing ring that involved her adoptive son Ray Walters.

The operation exploited teenagers April Windsor and Dylan Penders as the pair dealt drugs in the local area, while Bear Wolf found himself undertaking gruelling manual labour just to have a roof over his head.

In recent weeks, Ray’s growing relationship with Laurel Thomas has led him to reconsider what he wanted from life, and Thursday’s (1 January) instalment of the ITV soap saw him stab Celia to death in a bid to reclaim some agency

Following the dramatic incident, Griffiths spoke to The Mirror, sharing: “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.

“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 [leaving the soap] happening. It came to my last scene and I nearly cried.”

After being praised as one of the best villains on the soap, Griffiths said it was “flattering” given its track record of baddies, adding: “Celia has been a shocker and I am glad I didn’t shy away from having no scruples.

“If she told someone she was going to hurt them, she did. I found it liberating to be that unfeeling. But, 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.”

Asked whether she envisioned any other possible ending for Celia, the actor agreed with the outcome that was decided by the producers – namely that her character had to go for good.

“She had to be killed off,” said Griffiths. “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.

“She lost control suddenly – Ray didn’t do as he was told. She wasn’t happy that Ray was in love with Laurel… 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.”