Emmerdale bosses have responded to actress Shila Iqbal’s suggestion that the soap didn’t offer her enough support when she was sacked.
Shila was dropped from the role of Aiesha Richards earlier this month, after offensive tweets from her account were unearthed, posted in 2013 when she was 19 years old.
Sharing her side of the story with The Sun, Shila admitted that being sacked was “hard to cope with”, adding that while she was offered counselling “two or three days” after being dropped, she isn’t sure whether that was sufficient.
“I did think to myself ‘could that offer have been two or three days too late in another person’s instance?’” she told the newspaper. “I mean, it could have been.
“I’m trying to keep positive, that’s the only way, because if I hadn’t have kept positive, who knows? We are human at the end of the day and I think the right strategies need to be in place to help people deal with that.”
A rep for Emmerdale has since told The Mirror: “We offered Shila Iqbal support when this situation happened. We asked her if there was anyone we could contact who could come in and support her, a relative or friend. We also said she could call any of us at any time.
“She repeatedly said she was fine and didn’t want any help. We also immediately contacted her agent who offered her advice and support.”
Shila made her first Emmerdale appearance in July 2018 and became a full-time cast member in March this year.
At the time of her sacking, she said in a statement: “I am terribly sorry and take full responsibility for my use of such inappropriate language.
“I have paid the price and can no longer continue the job I loved the most at Emmerdale.
“Although I was young when I made the tweets, it was still completely wrong of me to do so and I sincerely apologise.”
Prior to her stint in the soap, she also appeared in Citizen Khan and the film Eaten By Lions.