| Lexi King | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Sally Oliver | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2007–2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 20 July 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 13 August 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Kathleen Beedles | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lexi Nicholls (also King) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale played by Sally Oliver. She appeared from 2007 to 2009.
Oliver's casting was announced in June 2007. [1] Lexi was initially introduced as the younger sister of the established Carrie Nicholls (Linda Lusardi). Oliver said "I’m thrilled to have been offered this fantastic opportunity, I’m so excited to be joining such an established show and I can’t wait for Lexi to make her mark on the village". [1] Emmerdale series producer Kathleen Beedles says: "We’re delighted to welcome Sally to the cast and viewers can look forward to some explosive storylines after Lexi’s arrival. [1] Oliver described Lexi as "a loose cannon" [1]
In August 2009, after two years on the serial Oliver made an unannounced exit.: [2] "I have loved every minute of playing Lexi but felt the time was right to move on. [2] Oliver told the Daily Mirror "It was very emotional filming my last scenes due to the nature of the storyline, but also because I knew that I was leaving. [2] She added: "I am going to miss everyone loads, particularly my on-screen family." [2]
Lexi first appears in July 2007 hanging around Home Farm. Rodney Blackstock (Patrick Mower) asks her to leave but she tells him she is related to the family. While he goes to check, she climbs into the house via the kitchen window, and when she is found, Carrie Nicholls says Lexi is her younger sister. Lexi stays in Emmerdale, and Carrie insists she get a job.
Lexi soon starts at The Woolpack as a barmaid. While Carrie and Lexi's relationship is difficult, Lexi is close to Carrie's daughter, Scarlett (Kelsey-Beth Crossley), and makes friends with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter). Eli Dingle (Joseph Gilgun) discovers that Lexi was previously in prison in Mexico. After leaving "The Woolpack", she gets a job at Eric's factory, and in late 2008, is appointed supervisor, over many more experienced and long-serving employees, causing resentment from other workers but they come round eventually.
In September 2007, Lexi, Chas and Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) steal a necklace worth £50,000 from a jewellery auction at Home Farm. Lexi cuts the power and, in the dark, Debbie snatches the necklace and hides it in her jacket. They plan to get Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) to sell it and split the money four ways. However, Debbie is unhappy with this, so she and Eric plan to tell Chas and Lexi that the necklace was a fake and quietly sell it later, splitting the money between themselves. However, Lexi hears Debbie and Pollard discussing this and they fight but the necklace is lost down a drain. Horrified, Carrie asks Lexi what has happened to her since their mother died and Lexi tells her that she knows Carrie is her real mother. Carrie gave birth to her when she was 14 and her parents adopted baby Lexi. Lexi wanted Carrie to acknowledge that they were mother and daughter but Carrie refused. She did, however, tell Lexi that her father's name was Barry and was three years older than her. Carrie had been impressed with him because he had a car but wasn't in love with him. Disappointed, Lexi leaves the village for a while.
On her return, Lexi starts sleeping with Ross Kirk (Samuel Anderson), unaware that he is also sleeping with Chas. Carl realises and tells Lexi who, furious, tells Chas. Chas sees that Lexi is interested in Carl King (Tom Lister) and warns her to stay away from him but Lexi ignores her and sleeps with Carl, in the hope he would make her Scarlett's trustee at King & Sons. Matthew becomes trustee and when Chas finds out about Lexi and Carl, she wants nothing more to do with them.
When Carl goes to work with Donald De Souza (Michael Jayston), Matthew King (Matt Healy) blackmails Lexi to spy on Carl; threatening to tell Scarlett that she had worked as a lap dancer if she refused. Chas realises what Lexi is planning and warns Carl but he hires her anyway. They soon get back together and as she falls in love with Carl, Lexi is increasingly reluctant to work for Matthew. Carl discovers Matthew using the proposals he was working on and blames Jimmy King (Nick Miles). After punching Jimmy, he and Donald tell Carl the truth. Carl makes up with his brothers and Lexi loses her job. Although Carl is angry, they soon made up.
When Lexi returns from Carrie's wedding in Thailand, she tells Carl that Carrie told her that he murdered his father Tom King (Ken Farrington). The revelation makes Carl feel he has to stay with Lexi, instead of ending things with her for Anna De Souza (Emma Davies). By December 2008, Lexi is involved with many King family activities and is living with them. After Matthew's death and the company going bust, they move into Mill Cottage. These changes make the family want to make a new start, and Scarlett wants to join her mother in Canada but Lexi persuades them to stay until the New Year, and later decide not to leave the area.
After a brief engagement, Lexi and Carl marry on 31 March 2009. The wedding almost does not happen, when Carl does not appear. Unknown to Lexi, he had been trying to persuade his former love, Chas, to be with him again but she refuses, so he goes ahead with the wedding. In April, Lexi tells Carl that she wants a baby and he unwillingly agrees. In June, Lexi discovers that she is pregnant but only days later, discovers her pregnancy is ectopic. A few days later, she learns that her remaining fallopian tube is badly damaged and is unlikely to conceive naturally. He recommended she and Carl try IVF treatment. Around the same time, Lexi lost her job when the factory closed. Carl refuses to go ahead with the IVF, finally admitting that he does not want more children. He suggests they separate if she wants children that badly but she decides Carl means more to her than a family of her own. However, on 13 August, Lexi and Carl finally confront each other on the hospital roof days after Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler) gave birth to her and Jimmy's daughter, Angelica. Carl admits he never loved her and only married her because she knew he killed his father. She then decides to leave the village for Canada, and her divorce from Carl is finalized off-screen.
In 2009 Ruth Deller of entertainment website Lowculture praised Lexi's exit storyline branding it as heartbreaking, being her favourite storyline of the time, also stating: "Another character bowing out this month, but this time doing so in heartbreaking style. Sally Oliver’s portrayal of Lexi going through an ectopic pregnancy was fantastic, and the explosion of Lexi and Carl’s relationship provided a very emotional and well-written departure. Applause all round." [3]
Lexi's exit episode drew 6.8 million viewers and the preceding episode drew 5.5 million. [2]
Kelly Windsor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Adele Silva. The character first appeared on 10 August 1993. Silva portrayed her from August 1993 until November 2000. In February 2005, it was announced that Silva would be reprising her role and she returned in June 2005. Silva left the soap once again in October 2007, and in November 2010, it was announced that Silva would be returning to Emmerdale in February 2011. Silva reprised the role for a period of three months and left again in May 2011.
Cain Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Jeff Hordley. Cain made his first appearance on 30 March 2000, and in 2006, he was written out of the series when Hordley left the soap; however, the option for a return was confirmed, which occurred when Hordley returned to the cast in February 2009. Cain's main storylines have focused on discovering his "uncle" Zak Dingle is his father; his relationship with his cousin Charity Dingle ; discovering he is Debbie Dingle's father; his affair and subsequent relationship with Moira Barton ; being attacked in a whodunit storyline where his assailant was eventually revealed to be his father; being diagnosed with a brain aneurysm; supporting his nephew Aaron Livesy after discovering Aaron was sexually abused by his father Gordon Livesy as a child; reuniting with his and Chas' mother Faith Dingle ; his relationship with local vicar Harriet Finch ; building up a relationship with his children; being blackmailed by DI Malone to do drug runs for him; his feud with Al Chapman and taking blame for Al's murder to protect his younger son Kyle who was responsible for killing Al.
Debbie Dingle is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charley Webb. Webb has taken maternity leave three times, with the first time being in 2010, and the second in 2016, with Debbie departing on 1 January 2016. She returned on 24 January 2017, and then went on maternity leave for a third time in 2019, with Debbie leaving for Scotland on 13 August 2019. She returned for a short stint on 25 December 2020, and made her final appearance on 11 February 2021.
Chastity Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Lucy Pargeter. More commonly known as Chas, she made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 October 2002. Chas returned on 21 September 2003. Chas was absent for six months in 2005 when Pargeter took maternity leave. She left temporarily on 5 June 2005, and returned full-time from 13 December 2005. In 2013, Pargeter announced that she would be taking a short break from the show in order to appear in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Pargeter was briefly recast for one episode on 20 December 2016 to provide an alternative physical appearance to the character through the eyes of Ashley Thomas. Chas departed temporarily once again on 31 March 2017 when Pargeter took a second maternity leave. Pargeter confirmed her return to filming on 31 August 2017. Chas returned on 25 October 2017. In January 2024, it was announced that Chas would be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in an upcoming storyline.
Carl Thomas King is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Tom Lister. The character and casting were announced in January 2004 when it was announced that producers were bringing "four new single 'hunks'" into the show, one of them being Carl. Lister made his first appearance on the show on 6 February 2004. Throughout the course of his story arc, Carl establishes a relationship with Chas Dingle – which contributes to his storylines that include the pair having an ill-fated wedding after Chas exposes Carl's affair with her best friend Eve Jenson. During his time on the show, Carl has accidentally caused the death of local postman Paul Marsden ; killed his own father Tom in the events surrounding the Who Killed Tom King? storyline, which he ultimately confessed to his brothers Jimmy and Matthew on the show's 500th village anniversary episode – after the trio were acquitted for their father's murder; formed a romance with DCI Grace Barraclough, the policewoman investigating his father's murder, that culminated with her being killed in a hit and run – just as she prepared to take Carl into custody after he admitted to killing his father; sparked a business conflict with Matthew that concluded with the latter's death, after Carl ruined Matthew's ill-fated wedding to his business partner Anna De Souza by exposing his involvement behind the death of her father Donald ; developed a feud with Chas' niece Debbie upon clashing with her parents, Cain and Charity, respectively; embarked on a failed marriage with Lexi Nicholls ; and became archenemies with Debbie's ex-boyfriend Cameron Murray after discovering his affair with Chas and subsequently blackmailing the pair in repaying him the £30,000 that Chas previously swindled from his bank account.
Nicola King is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She has been played by Nicola Wheeler since she joined the soap in 2001. Wheeler left the role in January 2006, with her on-screen departure airing in March. In July 2007, it was announced that Wheeler had chosen to return to the soap eighteen months later and Nicola made her return on 12 September 2007. Wheeler took maternity leave throughout 2015, which was woven into the soap as Nicola departing temporarily on 26 March 2015, to work in Dubai for six months. She made a brief appearance on the soap on 7 May 2015, via webcam, and then made her full-time return on 11 November 2015, when she returned from Dubai due to an incident that happened there.
Darren "Daz" Eden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Luke Tittensor. He made his first appearance in the show on 9 October 2003. Six years into his tenure on the soap, it was announced that Tittensor had been released from Emmerdale due to a conviction of grievous bodily harm. Following a meeting with the show's bosses, the decision was taken to terminate Tittensor's contract due to the serious nature of the charge and to allow him to focus on the court case.
Scarlett Mary Nicholls is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She is played by Kelsey-Beth Crossley and made her first appearance on 2 March 2007. It was announced on 8 May 2011 that Crossley was leaving the show. She made her final appearance on 28 July 2011. On 21 October 2012, it was announced Crossley would make a brief return to Emmerdale.
Rosemary King is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Linda Thorson. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 23 March 2006. She departed on 13 September 2007; the character was later killed off-screen on Christmas Day 2007.
Eve Jenson is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Suzanne Shaw. She made her first on-screen appearance on 31 August 2001. The character was originally played by Raine Davison from 2001 to 2002, reappearing briefly in 2006. In early 2010, series producer Gavin Blyth recast the role and Shaw took over. Eve was introduced as the granddaughter of Edna Birch. In April 2011, it was announced that Shaw had quit her role of Eve and she departed on 2 August 2011.
Tom King is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, who appeared on the show from 29 February 2004 before being killed off on 25 December 2006 in a long-running "whodunit" storyline dubbed, "Who Killed Tom King?". He was last seen on 27 December 2006 as a dead body in a morgue. Throughout his time on the show he was portrayed by Kenneth Farrington. Farrington decided to leave the show in 2006 but reprised the role briefly as a ghost in a "Text Santa" special on 20 December 2013.
Jimmy King is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Nick Miles. He made his first appearance on 19 February 2004 and has appeared on the show ever since. Introduced alongside brothers Matthew, Max and Carl, as well as his father Tom, Jimmy has evolved from a hard, cold businessman to a devoted husband and a comical character. This personality transformation followed the deaths of all his brothers in 2005, 2008 and 2012 respectively, his murder of his father in 2006 and a marriage to Nicola Blackstock since 2010.
On 17 October 2012, a live episode of the British soap opera Emmerdale was broadcast, marking the 40th anniversary of the first episode in 1972. The episode was broadcast at the usual time of 7 pm on ITV. For the 40th anniversary live episode, Emmerdale announced that a character would die, and that character was Carl King, who was hit with a brick by his love rival Cameron Murray. The episode also featured a wedding and two births. Behind-the-scenes footage was also included.