'Emmerdale' star: 'Leyla needs to learn'

Emmerdale star Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi has admitted that her character Leyla Harding needs to change her ways as she continues spending quality time with her biological son Jacob.

Last month, viewers discovered that Leyla gave Jacob away to her sister Alicia (Natalie Anderson) when he was just a baby and had been keeping her distance ever since.

In recent weeks, however, a desperate Alicia has found herself turning to Leyla for help - meaning that the shopkeeper has been able to enjoy contact with Jacob for the first time in years.

Next week, the story has a new twist when Leyla takes Jacob to a birthday party, where he goes into anaphylactic shock due to an allergic reaction to some cake.

Speaking about the plot, Ghawam-Shahidi commented: "It's Leyla's fault because she hasn't listened to her sister's warnings about not letting Jacob eat anything because of his nut allergy.

"Alicia's told her several times that she must watch Jacob like a hawk but Leyla's like 'Yeah, whatever!' It's a situation that could have been avoided if only she'd listened to Alicia."

She continued: "What it does is help shock Leyla into the reality of the situation - that Alicia is Jacob's mum and needs to be listened to. It reinforces their roles if you like… Leyla's got to learn to be less full-on. She mustn't keep indulging and spoiling him."

> Click here to read more about next week's Emmerdale episodes