Emmerdale set to make history with new soap villain 'like nothing ever seen before'

Emmerdale's Dominic Brunt has heaped praise on his co-star Jaye Griffiths, who is set to make her debut as newcomer Celia. Next week, Paddy Kirk finds himself confronting farm owner Celia after he is attacked by her dog. Despite his tense interactions with the new villain, Dominic opened up about working with Jaye behind the scenes, revealing her audition left him lost for words.

Speaking to Express.co.uk and other press, the actor declared: "Ceila, played by Jaye Griffiths, is more frightening than the dog. They auditioned lots of people and whittled it down to the last eight. I took part in the screen tests. They were all brilliant, genuinely I could see why every single person was there. You could tell Jaye was nervous, she had a hiccup with the lines once." Dominic continued: "But she must've done so much homework and invention and thought that she'd put into it. She clearly went away, just to the side of where we were doing the work, and had a little quiet word with herself.

"I'm assuming this because the transformation was unbelievable. She came on and it was incredible. We all had goosebumps. She was fierce and completely in control of the air around her."

He recalled: "She was mocking me, toying with me. She was absolutely brilliant. I thought I couldn't wait for it to come on the screen because she was electric. It was fantastic. It was the best audition I've ever been part of."

Dominic teased what viewers can expect from her character, confirming she is like nothing anyone has seen before.

The soap star said: "I don't think anybody's come across anyone like Celia before. She's brilliant. She's a true baddie. In the same way classic baddies like Kim Tate enjoy being a baddie, the reason they are the villain is because they enjoy being the villain, not because they have any choice.

"She's got that. She really likes toying with people. She's got nothing to lose. She's in her own space in time - she's in charge. You'll never get one past her."

Dominic added: "One of the best things that soaps have seen in a good long time."

During the vicious attack, the dog tears through an artery in Paddy's arm and leaves him questioning his future as a vet. While Paddy is in despair, Dominic confessed he couldn't wait to work on the scenes.

"I was looking forward to it since I read it and kept thinking how they were going to do it," he said. "We met and this dog was this huge, jet black Alsatian. On cue, it would growl, drool, drivel. It was incredible."

Dominic went on: "It was really really scary. But you realised very soon that it was just a game for it. It had to attack me and pull me along the ground, which it did and I'm not a light man. It was just an incredible dog."