Emmerdale's Moira Dingle star's grief after devastating 'family' death

While Moira Dingle is head over heels for Cain and attentive to their children, Kyle and Isaac, Natalie J Robb shares her life with a different kind of partner.

“I don’t have any children,” she says. “Apart from furry animals.” The Emmerdale icon recently adopted Buddy, her new pup, after losing her beloved dog Bronson.

“Last year in February, I lost Bronson, my best friend. Never felt grief like it, it doesn’t go away,” she says. “Now Buddy won’t stop growing. I just love the companionship of an animal.”

And she has no regrets about not settling down. “I’ve never been one for marriage. My mum got divorced when I was very young. I think my world shattered when that happened,” she says.

“But I don’t believe people need marriage anymore. A lot of them have children - that’s a marriage in itself.” She adds: “I’m 50 now, I spent a lot of time trying to find love but it wasn’t the right thing for me. I should have just been more single then, rather than find something.”

On-screen, Moira survived a brain tumour, kept Cain steady through the heartbreak of Nate’s death, and somehow held her family together.

But Emmerdale ’s Moira Dingle is now about to face more drama. “It’s all kicking off,” says Natalie, who plays the farmer. “She’s still in recovery, her tumour was only diagnosed last year.”

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Moira has stood strong for hubby Cain, who’s still reeling after the discovery of Nate’s body in a lake. “She knows what it’s like to lose a child, so she knows the pain he’s feeling,” Natalie says, referring to the 2016 drugs death of Moira’s daughter Holly. “But there’s just so many different emotions going on.”

Guilt is one of them. Before Nate’s death, he was beaten by Cain - fuelled by a rumour that Moira tried to kiss him. Believing Nate and Moira’s old affair had sparked again, Cain lashed out. “That fight they had,” Natalie says, “Moira believes she caused it.”

Now, the family’s about to be dealt another blow. Joe Tate’s gunning for Moira’s land, hoping to hand it over to Kim Tate, his step-grandmother.

“Moira can be a bit crazy, fierce and protective,” says Natalie. “But she’s a fair woman when it comes to farming and her business. What they’re trying to do to her is awful, it’s really bad. Her hands are tied.”

Butler’s Farm is already struggling but losing it would leave Moira and Cain homeless. “The outcome is going to be much worse,” Natalie says.

“Ultimately, she thinks they’re going to have to sell. But Joe tells her fibs about her being a tenant farmer. She’s going to try and do everything to save it. But working with Joe? He gets right under Moira’s skin.”

Even after 16 years, Emmerdale still has Natalie’s heart. “I live in the present but you never know what’s going to come up,” she says, “The Emmerdale pace is fast and no day is the same. I absolutely thrive on that. I’m very lucky.”

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