Guess who's back!

How Samantha Giles charms stars on screen and her real-life fans

- VIKKI WHITE

Emmerdale legend Bernice Blackstock has been bewitching men for more than 25 years and is about to magically appear for her daughter's wedding.

The former barmaid, played by Samantha Giles, is full of surprises and her arrival shocks her girl Gabby Thomas, played by Rosie Bentham.

A happy ever after is already in doubt for Gabby, whose vicar dad Ashley died of vascular dementia. Her intended, Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson), has been questioning his own sexuality.

Four-times wed Bernice, who left in 2023 after a £20,000 fraud against her sister Nicola and brother-in-law Jimmy King, is unlikely to give sensible motherly advice, says Samantha.

"I think Gabby's a little bit like her mother, who hasn't got a great track record when it comes to men." Samantha, 54, first stepped behind the Woolpack bar in 1998 and has been in and out of the ITV soap ever since.

She says: "It was lovely to go back and revisit the character and see everyone. It was really good fun." She admits she took her steady job on Emmerdale for granted: "When you're out there in the world, you realise it's so hard getting regular work as an actor. There is so much competition. I feel very lucky that I was invited back." B ut Samantha, who is originally from Kent and now lives in Merseyside, has recently enjoyed playing Auntie Val in CBeebies show Football Fantastics, which is available on BBC iPlayer.

"That's such a different character.