Emmerdale’s Vanessa Woodfield is currently in the thick of things as she teeters on the brink of exposing Charity Dingle’s baby secret.

Charity’s surrogacy plans have spiralled into chaos following her one-night stand with Ross Barton (Mike Parr). However, Vanessa remains in the dark about Charity and Ross’s tryst, believing Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) to be the father of the baby.

Christmas Day sees Vanessa and Charity reluctantly spending time together. However, when Vanessa becomes tipsy during dinner, Charity grows anxious about what she might reveal, according to the Mirror.

Later, as Mack and Charity cosy up and reflect on their day, a potential bombshell hangs in the air. Will Vanessa spill the beans about Charity’s baby?

Who is Michelle Hardwick’s wife?

Michelle Hardwick, 49, has been bringing the character of village vet Vanessa to life since 2012, introduced as Frank Clayton’s (Michael Praed) daughter and Tracy Metcalfe’s (Amy Walsh) half-sister.

However, some fans may not realise that Emmerdale is where Michelle met her real-life spouse, Kate Brooks.

Kate, an accomplished TV executive, formerly served as a series producer on Emmerdale before taking up the role of producer for Coronation Street last year.

The duo revealed their romance in October 2018, marking National Coming Out Day with an adorable Instagram snap.

Engagement followed after Michelle orchestrated an unforgettable proposal, complete with a flash mob of The Greatest Showman cast members at their neighbourhood cinema.

Rather than opting for a lavish celebrity ceremony in the UK, they kept their wedding intimate, jetting off to Elvis Presley’s legendary Graceland estate in Memphis in September 2019.

Posting a picture of herself alongside her new wife, both dressed in white against the backdrop of Elvis Presley’s former residence, Kate penned: “In over 100 degrees heat, on Tuesday 10th September, I became Mrs Brooks.”

Before exchanging vows, Michelle chatted openly with The Mirror in August 2019 about their relaxed wedding preparations, sharing: “There’s no magazine deal, we’ll just pick up a few witnesses wherever we are and it will just be me and her.”

She continued: “We only have a few months to go, and we haven’t even got our outfits sorted, and that’s because it doesn’t matter. That’s the biggest lesson I learned.”

Michelle also revealed their unconventional vision for their special day: “We’ll get married abroad, hit a few bars, and probably have chicken and chips for our wedding breakfast. Then a big party for our family when we get back to England. That’s all I can tell you! It will be ace.”

The blissful pair have since welcomed two little ones, a son called Teddy and a daughter named Betty.

Who was Michelle Hardwick’s first wife?

Michelle was in a relationship with her first wife, Rosie Nicholl, for three years before they married in 2015. The pair parted ways a year later on amicable terms, with the actress revealing she hadn’t informed her co-stars about the separation until they noticed her wedding ring had disappeared.

In an interview with the Daily Star, she explained: “Unfortunately, Rosie and I did split last year but are still good friends. It was one of those things where we did drift apart. We had a big fairytale wedding and I still love that day, it was brilliant.”

She continued: “It’s just really sad and one of those things that happens. We still have our dogs which we’ll share and nobody else was involved, it just happened and it was a mutual decision. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Before securing her role as Vanessa in Emmerdale, Michelle had appeared in both Heartbeat and Coronation Street. On the ITV soap, the Leeds-born actress portrayed two separate characters – Sheila Dixon in 1997 and Naomi Russell in 1998.

However, one of her most prominent roles was playing Lizzie Hopkirk in The Royal – a Heartbeat spin-off series. She also made a brief appearance in Hollyoaks.