Inside Emmerdale star Natalie J Robb’s life off-screen – from split with co-star to pop music past
NATALIE J Robb has been the star behind one of Emmerdale’s most recognised faces for years.
The Scottish actress, 48, rose to fame when she started playing Moira Barton on the ITV soap in 2009.
Her feisty character is known for having more than her share of love affairs, but Natalie’s off-screen entanglements have been nearly as juicy.
In the farm, Moira had a scandalous affair with her brother-in-law James Barton when things got rocky between her and John.
She fell pregnant shortly after and had a baby boy, but decided never to find out if Adam belonged to her husband John – or his brother.
The character gave a new meaning to the phrase family affair, as audiences discovered when she later also slept with her stepson, Nate Robinson.
In reality Natalie also had her own controversial romance, although in this case thankfully her relatives were kept out of the picture.
The soap star fell in love with one of her co-stars, Jonny McPherson, who played the local GP.
The pair had a whirlwind romance during lockdown, and like many couples during that time, ended up moving in together.
However the love nest ended up being their downfall, as Natalie felt it was “too intense too soon”.
She later told the Sun that Covid put pressure on their relationship, and that combined with sharing space early on made her realise they were better off as friends.
There is no bad blood between the exes though, and she shared that it’s still “lovely” to see him on set.
Fans may also be surprised to hear that the Scot did not always dream of an actress, but when she was younger actually had ambitions to be a pop star.
Before going on Emmerdale, Natalie joined a band called The Kinky People, and in 1997 they released a single together with dance group Partizan called Keep Your Love.
She followed up by singing on a trance track made by Absolutely the year after that, before cashing it in to join the soap world as a farmer in the Dales instead.