'Emmerdale' star explains Alicia's betrayal

Emmerdale star Natalie Anderson has admitted that her character Alicia Gallagher would expect to be forgiven by sister Leyla if her shock robbery was ever discovered.

Tonight's episode of the ITV1 soap sees Alicia steal expensive stock from Leyla's shop in order to raise funds for her adopted son Jacob's birthday present.

In an interview with Emmerdale's official website, Anderson explained that Alicia chooses to target her sister because she believes Leyla (Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi) would be understanding if the truth ever came to light.

Anderson commented: "The reason that she steals from Leyla is that, in her silly little mind, she thinks, 'She won't notice and I'll put it back anyway. And even if she did, she'll understand - she'll know that I'm doing it for Jake and not trying to be horrible to her.'

"So in a way, she feels like, because they're family, Leyla will be more understanding. It's a silly way to think about things, because at the end of the day you should never steal anyway, but from your own family is terrible. I think she's just thinking that Leyla will be more lenient."

Confirming that Alicia's desperate act will be uncovered at some point, she added: "I obviously can't tell you too much about how Leyla reacts, how David reacts, or how Andy reacts as well - because obviously there's the third part there that he has come into her life and there's the possibility of a future there. But who knows how he's going to react as well?"

> Click here to read our Emmerdale spoilers
> Click here to read our recent interview with Natalie Anderson about the storyline