Emmerdale star Gabrielle Dowling, who plays Cathy Hope, has opened up about the car crash that killed off her on-screen brother, Heath.

On New Year’s Eve 2023, Emmerdale aired scenes in which Cathy, Heath and Angelica King climbed into Wendy’s car to try and make their way to a nearby party.

Tragically, the teenagers never made it to their destination, as the vehicle smashed into a wall at high speed. Angelica and Cathy sustained brutal injuries, while Heath eventually succumbed to fatal wounds – despite Wendy’s best efforts to revive him through CPR.

Months later, it turned out that Angelica was driving in the moments before Heath’s death, even though viewers only saw Cathy in the driver’s seat at the time. After confessing her guilt, Angelica served an eight-month sentence in a Secure Children’s Home for dangerous driving.

Now, Gabrielle – who has played Cathy since she was a baby – has revealed all about the behind-the-scenes experience of filming the momentous stunt.

“The main night scenes took a couple of days,” the star exclusively told Inside Soap. “But with the build-up and the aftermath of it all, it was about two weeks. It was brilliant, because we hadn’t done anything that different before. There was a lot going on. Emmerdale brought in a car that was modified, so we weren’t actually driving.”

Having been on the show for 18 years, Gabrielle has built a strong bond with the Emmerdale team, sharing that the on-set experience was “just brilliant.”

“Everyone mucked in together to get [the scenes] done in the space of time that we did,” she explained. “It was night scenes as well, which is very different because it’s cold and dark, but we have the best cast and the best crew.

“We filmed until about three or four o’clock in the morning, which was weird because we’d get on set, and they’d do breakfast at 4pm. It was so different, but so good.”