Emmerdale had us all sobbing tonight (Wednesday, February 19), as the soap confirmed Leyla Harding’s death. And, it’s a huge mistake.
Reports were released a few months ago that suggested that Roxy Shahidi would be leaving her role as Leyla. But, we’ve been in denial ever since hearing the news.
And, now the sad moment has finally arrived… We’re not sure we’re ever going to recover from seeing Leyla lying in that morgue. It’s a scene that we believe should never have happened…
Emmerdale: Leyla Harding’s tragic death
Leyla was feeling really lonely in her final days and joined the girls of the Dales for a night out. She might’ve not got them to take her up on her lunch offer, but she sure wasn’t going to miss out on the chance to party.
In the limo, one of the last things that Leyla saw was her ex-husband Liam proposing to another woman – Chas, and almost sitting on her lap whilst doing so. Brutal. And, then if that situation alone wasn’t enough to finish her off, crash! Charity swerved the limo and crashed it into a huge, frozen lake.
Leyla’s business partner Suzy died instantly, with the rest of the passengers taking it in turns one by one to cross the ice.
Eventually, only Kerry and Leyla remained left in the sinking limo but Leyla was in a bad way after being impaled in the stomach from some glass. (At least she didn’t die with an empty stomach.)
Kerry was desperate to not leave Leyla alone though (if only everyone else had been so kind in the lead-up to the crash), and dragged her across the ice despite her most likely broken leg.
Four ambulances then arrived and took Leyla, Liam, Amy and Noah off. But, someone had died inside one of them on the way to the hospital.
And tonight, Jacob realised that this person was Leyla as he burst into the morgue whilst on shift in A&E and saw his mum lying dead.
Opinion: Leyla being killed off is a HUGE mistake
Leyla Harding first arrived in the Dales in 2008 and became a huge fan-favourite very quickly.
Leaving in 2011, Leyla then returned in 2013 and made a huge entrance as Alicia’s jaw dropped finding out that her sister was now a pole dancer (a moment we still remember well.)
Then, a huge storyline saw it be revealed that Leyla was actually Jacob’s mum and not Alicia… Despite this huge bombshell, we loved the dynamic of David, Leyla, Alicia and Jacob as a family. But, now all we have are these fond memories, with only Jacob Gallagher remaining from this group.
Leyla’s always been, as Jacob says, the ‘life and soul’ of the party and of the village too. In the 17 years of Leyla, she’s brought us fun, love, laughter, tears and drama.
Whilst she’s been a little quiet recently, she’s always close to our hearts (and we’re definitely always jealous of her impeccable bright and colourful wardrobe – she knows how to own a power suit does our Leyla!)
Having that ‘life and soul’ die in such a tragic and upsetting way leaves us heartbroken. Someone so young, with so much life left to life being robbed of it within a few short hours. It’s almost… unforgivable. And, we think this is a huge mistake!
An exit storyline that broke our hearts
Leyla was ‘getting in that limo if it killed her’ and she wasn’t lying (sadly.) And now, her business Take A Vow is truly dead in the water (excuse the pun), with only Belle remaining to keep things afloat.
But, we can’t help but be emotional over the permanent end to Leyla’s character with no hope of a return further down the line. Leyla’s loneliness storyline seemed slightly out of character and we’re devastated she died with nobody by her side in that ambulance.
We would’ve loved to imagine her exiting the village and living it up with Alicia in the sun. But, instead the curse of young soap women meeting their maker strikes again… All chances of a hopeful future robbed.
There’s going to be a huge Leyla shaped hole in the village now. And, now we’re just hoping that she gets the big send-off she deserves.
But, with the chances of a David, Priya and Alicia return being rather slim, we fear she may become Harriet Finch 2.0 in that sense.
