OHMYGOSSIP — Charlotte Bellamy has urged people to watch all of the ‘Emmerdale’ episodes concerning the soap’s controversial Down’s syndrome abortion storyline “before making a judgement”.
The hard-hitting plot will see Charlotte’s character Laurel Thomas and her partner Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) come to the heart-breaking decision to terminate their pregnancy after discovering their baby has Down’s syndrome.
This has led to criticism, with a Change.org petition entitled ‘Bin Emmerdale’s Prejudiced Storyline About Down’s Syndrome’ receiving more than 16,000 signatures.
But the 47-year-old star has insisted the ITV soap are not “making judgements” or “taking sides” by telling this story.
She said: “Of course, it’s going to cause huge debate and it is a highly emotive subject.
“But I think it’s important to say ‘Emmerdale’ aren’t making judgements. They’re not taking sides.
“We just urge people to watch all of these episodes before they make a judgement.”
Charlotte insisted the soap always try to “give a very balanced view”, and she pointed out Harvey Rogerson’s alter-ego Leo Goskirk, who has Down’s syndrome, has been a character on the soap for nearly 10 years.
When asked if she thinks “a lot of these concerns will be addressed” when the plot has aired, she said: “Well, ‘Emmerdale’ give a very balanced view.
“We have to remember Leo is a character who has been in the show for 10 years.
“He is the Down syndrome son of Marlon and Rhona. And that has been such a huge positive story, and continues to be, in our show.
“Soaps are at their most potent when they deal with very difficult stories.
“I think it’s really important that soaps don’t shy away from them.”
Charlotte also admitted it was “humbling” to speak to real-life families about the storyline.
Speaking on ‘Lorraine’, she said: “It was fundamental for me to speak to families who have been affected by this, and it’s been humbling, very insightful for me, and helpful. So I can portray this as truthfully as I can.”
‘Emmerdale’ have teamed up with Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) to ensure the plot is played out sensitively.
Series Producer Laura Shaw recently said: “Right from the moment the idea was first mooted for this storyline, we knew it was one that if we went ahead with, it had to be fully researched, which involved us speaking to medical professionals, charities and parents with lived experience. Listening to women and men telling us their stories, hearing what brought them to make the difficult decision to terminate their pregnancies, cemented for us that this was a topic rarely shown on soap, but a really important one to highlight.
“Translating what we had learnt into ‘Emmerdale’ scripts led to what was arguably the most challenging and difficult writing our writing team had ever been tasked with.
“What we have produced and Charlotte and Chris have both brilliantly brought to life, is some of the most heart-breaking and emotional episodes of ‘Emmerdale’ viewers will have ever seen.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online
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