Emmerdale actress Louisa Clein has reportedly QUIT the soap after one year playing Maya Stepney, after her character was arrested for child grooming earlier this week. The chilling storyline, which has seen 40-year-old Louisa's character begin a 'relationship' with the teenaged son of her ex-boyfriend, has come to a head this week.
Maya has been having a 'relationship' with Jacob Gallagher, who is still in school and is the son of her now-ex-boyfriend David Metcalfe, for months - and finally got arrested earlier this week when David confronted her.
But according to The Sun, Louisa has now also quit the soap after just 14 months playing Maya. A source told the publication, "Louisa’s had fans glued to their seats with her brilliant performance. They’ve been wondering what the future might hold for Maya and savouring the potential for her to continue to feature.
"But it seems they’ll be disappointed. Her arrest for grooming Jacob spelled the end of a chapter on the soap — for Louisa and Maya."
It is also thought that Louisa's cast mates at Emmerdale gave her a send-off after filming finished last week.
Swipe through to see all the Emmerdale spoilers you need to know for next week...
Emmerdale spoilers: week 22
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As the date of their twenty week scan draws nearer, Chas is wracked with nerves and worries about the harm her stress might cause the baby.
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Certain he's doing the right thing, Paddy cancels the scan behind Chas' back, but when Chas finds out she's livid and demands he rearrange it for as soon as possible.
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At the hospital, Chas and Paddy wait nervously for what feels like an age, and are overjoyed when the doctors tell them their baby is healthy!
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Paddy and Chas share their good news with their family, but as they celebrate with Dingles, they decided to keep the gender of their baby to themselves.
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Later on they visit baby Grace's grave and tell her the gender, saying that she can be the special keeper of their secret.
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Meanwhile, Megan and Frank are trying to generate new business so Megan can afford her legal fees, but an upcoming event at Home Farm leaves Megan on edge.
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Knowing she'll have to earn the support of Kim, Megan confides in Manpreet at the Woolpack that she finds Kim intimidating.
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When who should walk in, but Kim herself? In front of the whole pub Kim tells Megan that she deserves to face all the consequences for her reckless driving,
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Feeling sorry for Megan, Graham offers to pay for her legal fees and asks Rishi at the factory for a loan.
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But when Graham arrives at Megan's house with a blank cheque, he struggles to explain what's going on to a confused Frank. Will they come clean?
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After a rocky introduction, Debbie befriends newcomer Nate and manages to convince Cain to let him park his caravan at the farm.
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Vanessaand Charity discuss the possibility of moving out of the Woolpack with Chas while they wait for the baby.
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Meanwhile, Jai is dating again.
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Meeting his date at the Woolpack, will everything go to plan?
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Faith Dingle makes her feelings very clear about Bear Wolf – in no uncertain circumstances. How will Bear react?
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Kim is desperate for Jamie to return and live with her at Home Farm, and does what ever she can think of to convince him to stay.
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She even reaches out to Rhona to give him more of an incentive to stay at the vets– a pay rise? A promotion?Will it be enough?
This comes after children's charity Barnardo's praised the soap for portraying the storyline last week. Chief executive Javed Khan said, "Some Emmerdale fans have been vocal about feeling uncomfortable with the grooming storyline, but we applaud producers for highlighting this very real and disturbing issue.
"Our polling shows there is still a significant proportion of the public that doesn’t realise Maya’s actions in the soap were criminal. When a boy or girl turns 16, that doesn’t mean they can no longer be sexually abused or exploited. Children are children by law until they are 18.
"While 16-year-olds are free to make choices about sex, teachers and other adults who abuse their positions of trust to groom young people under 18 are still committing crimes."
Emmerdale airs every weeknight at 7pm on ITV, with a second showing on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
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