Emmerdale’s Natalie Ann Jamieson reveals heartbreaking secret killed Amy Barton takes to her grave
HER heartbreaking death left the nation in tears, but it also tied up one of Emmerdale’s biggest mysteries when viewers finally discovered what happened to village hunk Nate Robinson.
As Emmerdale’s much-loved Amy Wyatt fell through the icy lake and saw Nate’s dead body, it’s a secret that she’s now taken to her grave.
During tonight’s harrowing episode Amy was unable to get the words out to tell husband Matty Barton what she had seen before she tragically died in hospital.
In an exclusive interview, Geordie actress Natalie Ann Jamieson, 37, who played Amy for six years, said: “Amy is taking it to her grave! “She tried to tell Matty about Nate but there just wasn’t enough time, she just managed to say she loved him before she died.”
Natalie discovered that she would be killed off in the devastating limo crash stunt back in August.
She said: It was just time for the character. I was after some new challenges and there wasn’t much coming up with Amy’s story, then this big storyline was coming up and Amy ended up being a part of that, and it was going to be an exit storyline, and I didn’t know which way it was going to go, whether it was going to be in a back of a taxi, and when they told me all of this I was like, ok, wow.
“They said if we’re going to do an exit storyline for Amy she’s got to go in a big way. She would never leave the village because of the strong ties she has.”
Natalie, who has been in a long-term relationship with boyfriend Ali Ward for the last 15 years, kept her character’s death a secret from friends and family.
But revealed that she did tell her mum, partner and auntie because she wanted them to be prepared for her distressing on-screen death.
She said: “I kept it top secret because I wanted it to have the most impact. My mum is one of the only people I told, my partner and my auntie.
“I told the people who I thought it would be worse for them to see it play out on screen, I said to my mam, I don’t think you should watch it at all! I kept it secret from everyone, it was kind of what I did when I was going into Emmerdale as well.
“When have been messaging him this week asking who dies, but said, Nat doesn’t because obviously we would have known! But I wanted it that way. I wanted to keep it a secret.
“I didn’t want to spoil it and I really wanted it to play out on screen. When we got the scripts I was like this is going to be so good. This week will go down in Emmerdale history.”
Natalie and the rest of the cast filmed the big stunt back in December. She then had Christmas off and returned to the set to film her final scenes, where Amy died in hospital, last month.
She said: “Amy’s final scenes in the hospital were the ones we filmed on my last day. It’s Kerry and Matty both talking to Amy when she’s dead! So I just had to be dead, they were talking back to us. I wasn’t very good at being dead because I kept crying!
“From my point of view, it was my friends, they were laying in the bed holding us, and from Amy’s point of view it’s so so sad. There was that scene with Kyle, where he said ‘Please don’t die Mummy’ that broke my heart.”
While the door may seem to have been firmly shut on her character, Natalie hasn’t given up hope that one day she may return to the village.
She said: “The sad thing about that is because I’ve got so many friends who I loved to work with. I’m not going to have that again, but who knows there might be the odd episode where they have a flashback, or an hallucination or the ghost of Amy! I might get to be ghost. That’s the saddest thing not working with those people anymore, but I’ll still get to see them all as friends, and I’m going to stay in the area so it doesn’t feel as bigger heartache as it could have been.”
Natalie and her fellow co-stars Roxy Shahidi and Martelle Edinborough, whose characters Leyla Harding and Suzy Merton also perished in limo crash, enjoyed a big leaving do together after filming their final scenes.
Natalie said: “We all finished on different days so we had different drinks! We did have a lovely night that the cast arranged, which was more of a big party together, that was in January.
“We all knocked dry January on the head. The cast got me a beautiful bracelet with the words, ’Love the village’ inscribed on it. They also got me my first Emmerdale script that they all signed and a book filled with pictures of Amy Wyatt over the years which was really lovely.
“They also got me a cup with a reference to Alan Shearer on it which went down well.”
Natalie also revealed that she kept a pair of Amy’s famous Dr Martens as well as one of her colourful tops.
She added: “I’ve got so much cool stuff! I’ve got a bottle of fizz from Amy and Matty’s wedding, although I’m not going to open it as I’ve got a feeling it’s Non-secco! I got to keep some of Amy’s bits, a pair of Dr Martens. She had such wicked Dr Martens.
“I’ve also got an Amy top, one of her crochet, colourful ones as a memento. There were a couple of dresses that I never got to wear that were on the rail, and I was like, I’m going to Lanzarote at Christmas! It’s great to have so many amazing mementos from my time on the show.”
Natalie is now auditioning and is excited about what the future holds away from Emmerdale.
Biggest soap stunts
Soaps are no stranger to dramatic stunts in the storylines. Not only do these moments create a spectacle for viewers, they also fundamentally change characters’ lives.
Here is a look at some of the biggest soap stunts from over the years.
CORONATION STREET
- Tram crash (2010): The ITV soap marked its 50th anniversary with a intense tram crash – and live episode to boot. Overall, the crash and its effects were broadcast across a week in December 2010. Its resulting chaos saw regular characters Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold) and Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns) die.
- Richard Hillman tries to kill the Platts (2003): Of all the men unlucky-in-love Gail tied the knot with, Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) is probably the one she regrets most in hindsight. In 2003, murderer Richard tried to kill his step-family: first by gassing them with car fumes and then driving Gail (Helen Worth), Sarah (Tina O’Brien), David (Jack P. Shepherd) and Bethany (Amy and Emily Walton) into a canal.
EASTENDERS
- Queen Vic fire (2010): In September 2010, EastEnders bid farewell to matriarch Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) as a permanent fixture on the soap – she returned as a guest before the character’s death in 2016. In the build-up to her initial exit, Peggy had trapped crack cocaine-addicted son Phil (Steve McFadden) in the Queen Vic. However, he escaped and set the boozer on fire.
- Bus crash (2017): In April 2017, a total of 11 Albert Square residents had their lives at risk in a terrifying bus crash. The stunt saw a double decker bus – the 764 to Barking – lose control and crash through the Albert Square market before hitting a low-level bridge. Notable passengers at the time included Denise Fox (Diane Parish) and Louise Mitchell (Tilly Keeper).
EMMERDALE
- James Barton’s death (2016): Interestingly about James’ (Bill Ward) death was that it came in a spiral of events. After wife Emma (Gillian Kearney) locked James up in a jealous rage, he escaped and they tussled on a bridge over the bypass. Emma pushed him and James fell into traffic, in turn causing a 12-vehicle pile up, As well as James dying, key characters including Ashley Thomas (John Middleton) and Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) were injured.
She said: “I’m really excited. I’ve started auditioning again. Six years in Emmerdale, everything has changed so much, it was a completely different industry but I’m excited to be back out there in the big wide world.
“I can do anything! I love theatre but also TV and film. I’d really like to do some comedy! I love sitcoms so doing something like that would be incredible. I know we’ve lost Vera but I would also love to do something back home in the north east.
“I think there’s going to be other stuff coming up in the region soon so it would be great to work with some people back home. I’d also love to work somewhere warm because I’ve just spent six years working somewhere really cold.
“The Good Ship Murder would be good although knowing my luck I’d probably end up being thrown in the water again.”