Moira Dingle actress Natalie J Robb reveals why she has never married
Emmerdale’s Natalie J Robb has opened up about her life away from the ITV soap.
The actress, who plays Moira Dingle, doesn’t have any children, but adores looking after dogs.
The 50-year-old soap star is also single, previously spoke about how she doesn’t have any intention of settling down and getting married.
‘I don’t have any children, apart from furry animals’, she said.
‘In February [2024], I lost Bronson, my best friend. Never felt grief like it, it doesn’t go away. Now Buddy [her new adopted dog] won’t stop growing. I just love the companionship of an animal’.
Continuing her chat with the Mirror, Natalie, who was previously in a relationship with her co-star Jonny McPherson, went on to reveal that her mum’s divorce seriously impacted her when she was a child.
‘I’ve never been one for marriage. My mum got divorced when I was very young. I think my world shattered when that happened.
‘But I don’t believe people need marriage anymore. A lot of them have children – that’s a marriage in itself.
‘I’m 50 now, I spent a lot of time trying to find love but it wasn’t the right thing for me.’
Natalie in Emmerdale
Natalie’s Emmerdale character Moira has been through utter hell for a while now.
After John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) tampered with the slurry tank on her farm last year, the contaminated liquid damaged some of her farmland. It also flowed into the main water supply, leaving the village without running water for days.
Butlers Farm was then dealt with a number of fines as a result. Moira struggled to pay them off, and like a pair of posh sharks that smelt blood, Kim and Joe Tate (Claire King and Ned Porteous) began to circle, formulating a plan to buy all of the land that surrounds Home Farm so they can become more powerful than ever before.
Joe hired newcomer Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) to advance his plot, though she turned on him and forged an alliance with Moira. Though Moira was grateful to her, it soon transpired that Celia was far more dangerous and evil than private school boy Joe could ever hope to be.
Celia was a serious criminal and, alongside son-come-lieutenant Ray Walters (Joe Absolom), was the head of a drug dealing operation, alongside a human-trafficking and modern slavery ring.
While she initially played nice with Moira, using her as a conduit to run a dodgy turkey farming scheme, their relationship fell apart when Moira became aware of how bent she was. Before her death at the hands of her son, Celia planted evidence to frame Moira for the murder of tragic, trafficked worker, Anya (Alia Al-Shabibi).
Joe also sought to use Celia’s operation to his advantage, blackmailing Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) into planting evidence at Moira’s farm, leading her to be arrested for both murder and human trafficking.
Moira had to deal with learning of the true extent of husband Cain Dingle’s (Jeff Hordley) cancer while inside, while also being forced to sell the farm to Kim.
Attempting to box clever, Moira decided to plead guilty to Celia’s crimes, determined to receive a shorter sentence than risk pleading not guilty, while Robert, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller), Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) and Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) teamed up to find enough evidence to free her, finally succeeded, securing her release.