Martelle Edinborough (born 27 September 1978) is a British actress. Edinborough initially studied law at university and set up her own business. After going into corporate law, she began taking acting class and was part of the Chicken Shop Shakespeare theatre company. Edinborough later had three guest roles in the soap opera Coronation Street and made other guest appearances in Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, Cold Feet and Doctors, in addition to the short film The Tooth Fairy (2020). After appearing in the horror film Evie, Edinborough returned to Emmerdale as regular character Suzy Merton in 2022, remaining until the character was killed off in 2025. For her role as Suzy, Edinborough was longlisted for "Best Newcomer" at the 2022 Inside Soap Awards.
Martelle Edinborough was born on 27 September 1978.[1][2] She is originally from Bradford in West Yorkshire and later moved to Leeds.[3][4][5] She initially studied law at university with the intention to become a solicitor.[6] After completing her degree, she set up her own business and then went into corporate law.[6] She then began taking acting classes but did not intend to go into it professionally.[6] Her agent is Alex Priestley Talent.[4] In 2016, Edinborough was part of the theatre company Chicken Shop Shakespeare where they did "flashmob Shakespeare performances" at Bradford City Park.[7]
In 2018, Edinborough appeared in the soap opera Coronation Street as a court clerk for four episodes.[4] The actress called it a "funny twist of fate" that her first role on the soap was of a court clerk due to her background in law.[6] She returned to the soap the following year playing a different character, talent scout Jasmine Ridgeway.[4][8] She returned to the soap again in 2021, this time playing a police family liaison officer for four episodes.[9] Edinborough also played mental health worker Doctor Keely on another soap opera, Hollyoaks, in April 2019.[4][10] In 2019, she played Amina Sewak in an episode of the series Cold Feet.[3] The following year, she played Francesca in the short film The Tooth Fairy.[3] She has also appeared in the soap opera Doctors and the documentary series Our Lives.[11][2] She made an appearance in the horror film Evie (2023).[3]
On 29 March 2022, it was announced that Edinborough had been cast as regular character Suzy Merton another soap opera Emmerdale, with her first appearance airing the following day.[5] Edinborough was cast by Faye Styring, the soap's casting director.[12] Speaking about joining the soap, Edinborough explained, "My feet haven't quite touched the ground yet, I'm still on this massive cloud high up in the sky, but it's been going really, really good. It's just like a family, and it sounds so cliché but it really is and everyone is so lovely and welcoming and helps you settle in really nicely."[5] Edinborough found the beginning of her experience on the soap "amazing" and called Suzy was a "really fun" character to play.[5] She revealed that she was "absolutely over the moon and overjoyed" to secure the role, and almost fainted when she found out, explaining that she had just gotten out of the shower when she received a call from her agent who told her she had received the role.[5] Edinborough added, "I literally dropped to my knees and let out a few expletives, as you do".[5][13] When she found out she had been cast, she first told her oldest son, who was "ecstatic", and then her mother, who was very happy as she is a big fan of the soap.[6] Edinborough has said that she likes playing seeing Suzy as she sometimes sees herself in the character and noted that they both are confident and risk takers.[14] Edinborough also called reading the scripts for Suzy's character "one excitement after another".[15]
Edinborough went to the same school as her Emmerdale colleague Karen Blick (pictured) and they later took acting classes together
Edinborough found it "perfect" working in Emmerdale due to it being close to Leeds, where she lives.[16] She had previously appeared in Emmerdale as a doctor in 2018.[4] Edinborough had previously worked twice with her Emmerdale co-star Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy Kirk; once in 2017 in a stage production, where she played a teacher, and the second in 2021 as he had directed Evie.[6][17][18] She had also gone to the same school as Karen Blick (Lydia Hart); however, they did not know each other then and they later met when they took acting classes.[19][20] For her role as Suzy, Edinborough was longlisted for "Best Newcomer" at the 2022 Inside Soap Awards.[21][22] Edinborough was also part of a special photoshoot for the soap's 50th anniversary, which included the eight of the newest actors to join the Emmerdale cast.[12]
Edinborough later exited the soap when her character was killed off in a limousine crash in February 2025.[23][24][25] The scenes were filmed in December 2024 during the night.[26] After the scenes aired, Edinborough confirmed her departure and said that she felt "overwhelmed" at the amount of messages she had received from fans.[27][28] It was reported that viewers were saddened by the actress' departure from the soap.[29][30][31] The actress explained that her Emmerdale departure was a mutual decision, explaining to a viewer on Twitter, "It was mutual in the sense that I had already decided I wanted to achieve more than what was on offer and [Emmerdale bosses] too had to make that call.[32] She called it a "blessing" to have been part of "such an iconic show that I grew up on" and called playing Suzy an "absolute pleasure" that she would always be grateful for.[32] The actress briefly reappeared as Suzy in flashbacks that aired in March 2025.[33] Edinborough's colleague Michelle Hardwick, Roxy Shahidi and Ash Palmisciano all paid tribute to Edinborough on social media, with Hardwick joking, "I'm going to miss hearing you arrive on set saying you've lost something... Every. Single. Day."[34] Hardwick told reporters that she felt sad during Edinborough's last days of filming.[35]
Following her departure, the gambling company Betway gave 4/1 odds of Edinborough joining the cast of soap opera EastEnders due to it being the only British soap opera she had not appeared in, whereas the Head of Brand Marketing at Slingo believed that the actress could join EastEnders as a "logical first step", although he also said that she could pursue a career in drama or film and added, "No matter where she goes next, her time in Emmerdale has paved the way for exciting opportunities, and fans will be eager to follow her journey".[36] In 2022, Edinborough revealed that she had played the saxophone on-off for over 20 years, and that she had gotten a tutor for it at the beginning of that year.[6]
Personal life
Edinborough has at least two children, including a son.[6] In 2020, Edinborough survived a Subarachnoid hemorrhage, which was caused by a ruptured aneurysm.[37][2] She had a second SAH in 2021 and was subsequently diagnosed with a rare vascular disease.[38] In 2024, the actress reflected on her experience on social media, writing, "The survival rates of a ruptured aneurysm are pretty bleak & so every year I celebrate just how blessed & lucky I am to still be here".[39][40] In April 2023, Edinborough announced that she had had surgery to treat a brain aneurysm.[41][42] The actress explained that she had been told a few weeks prior that "an existing brain aneurysm" that had been thought to always be small and stable "had in fact always been of a size that needed treatment".[43][44] She also praised the NHS staff who had treated her.[45] Edinborough received support from fans on social media when she revealed the news.[46] The actress returned to work on Emmerdale on 9 May of that year.[47][48][49]
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