Emmerdale's Emma Atkins on "unique" Charley Webb relationship

Emmerdale mum-and-daughter Charity and Debbie Dingle aren't seen on-screen together these days, but Emma Atkins and Charley Webb are as close as ever in real life.

Emma, who plays Charity Dingle on the ITV soap, has opened up about her "unique" relationship with former co-star and telly daughter Charley, even admitting that their mother and daughter roles are sometimes switched.

Speaking to OK! about her "lovely" bond with Charley, Emma revealed that despite playing Charley's mum in the Dales, Charley often has a "maternal instinct" with her.

"She's very organised and to think she's 13 years younger, she's often got a maternal instinct with me," Emma said. "We've got a really lovely friendship, to be honest.

charley webb and emma atkins at the 2019 ntas

Stuart C Wilson//Getty Images

"We used to have a lot of emotional scenes together, being mother and daughter. I do miss that. There was, again, a lot of authenticity to it because of our history as friends."

Reflecting on their time working together, Emma continued: "I took her under my wing when she joined the show at 14 and I think she looked up to me.

"I felt honoured that I was bonding with this young girl who felt like she could come to me for advice and stuff. It's quite a unique friendship in that way."

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Charley, who joined Emmerdale as Debbie Dingle back in 2002, confirmed earlier this year that she had left the soap, nearly a year after her latest scenes aired.

Confirming the soap's line in December of last year that there were currently no plans for Debbie to return to the village, Charley appeared to admit that she had bid farewell to her long-running character.

"This is always my most asked question but I've never answered it before because I've never wanted to make a big deal of it," the actress explained.

charity dingle and debbie dingle say goodbye in emmerdale

ITV

Suggesting that she had stepped back from the soap on a more permanent basis when she last went on maternity leave, Charley continued: "I left to have Ace [two] years ago.

"I went back at the end of last year for 10 weeks to complete a storyline. So, I guess officially it's been a year. I never felt the need to announce it which is why we didn't."

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV and streams on the ITV Hub.