Exclusive: Dale's Emily returns for gay wedding

Former Emmerdale actress Kate McGregor is to make a special reappearance for the soap's first gay wedding.

Her Yorkshire character Emily Kirk will return at the beginning of March for the soap's baroque-themed nuptials between Paul Lambert and Jonny Foster – played by Matthew Bose and Richard Grieve respectively.

McGregor – who played shopkeeper Emily for eight years between 1999 and 2007 – quit the soap last year in order to pursue other projects. In the soap, meanwhile, her character bade farewell to the village in December and moved to Manchester to train as a priest.

Speaking of Kate's comeback, Bose exclusively told DS: "Paul and Jonny couldn't have got married without Emily being a witness. It just had to happen. We're really excited about having Kate back on set. It'll be like old times. We'll have to try and tie her down this time so she can't leave again!"

A source added: "The wedding's going to be fantastic – and there'll definitely be plenty of surprises along the way!"

McGregor went on maternity leave in 2006 and made her comeback to filming that October. She returns to the Yorkshire set next week, with her reappearance airing on March 3.