Emmerdale stars praise Sophie Powles and Natalie J. Robb after emotional episode

Emmerdale stars have been full of praise for Sophie Powles and Natalie J. Robb after an emotional episode in which Holly Barton died of a heroin overdose.

Copyright [ITV]

Adam Thomas - who plays Holly’s on-screen brother Adam Barton - admitted he was “proud” to work with his on-screen mother Natalie, who plays Moira, after she put in a sensational performance on Thursday night.

He tweeted: “Natalie j Robb!!!! So proud to work with this woman absolutely smashed it!! Go on emmerdale Mr Anderson hats off great ep (sic)”

Adam also heaped praise on Sophie for her portrayal of the late drug addict.

He wrote: “Massive goodbye to the one and only true free spirit I know @SophiePowles love and miss u so much angel great job from start to finish xxx (sic)”

Copyright [ITV]

Chris Bisson, who portrays Holly’s secret lover Jai Sharma, tweeted: “It really is a heart-breaking @emmerdale story. Feels like I’ve been keeping this no so #jolly secret for ever! (sic)”

The emotional ep saw Moira find Holly’s dead body after she took a heroin overdose.

In one poignant scene, one of the most heart-breaking in the soap’s history, Moira put Holly’s favourite toy on her lifeless body and wept as she wished her daughter could come back to life.

Copyright [Lia Toby/WENN.com]

Emmerdale bosses teamed up with the Samaritans for the hard-hitting storyline.

A tweet on the official Emmerdale Twitter read: “If you’ve been affected by #Holly’s story, @samaritans provide support for anyone in distress on their free helpline 116123. #Emmerdale (sic)”

The story was all the more shocking as viewers had been kept in the dark about how Sophie was going to depart the ITV soap.