Is Heath still in Emmerdale and is a different actor playing him?

Emmerdale teen Heath Hope (Sebastian Dowling) was the son of Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) and the late Viv Hope (Deena Payne).

Heath was in the soap since 2007 along with his twin sister Cathy (Gabrielle Dowling) and lived with his dad's ex-wife Brenda Walker (Lesley Dunlop), who he saw as a mother figure after Viv was killed in an explosion at the Post Office in 2011.

The schoolboy was involved in a devastating accident, so is Heath is still in Emmerdale?...

Is Heath still in Emmerdale?

Unfortunately, Heath is no longer in Emmerdale. On New Year's Day 2024, Heath was tragically killed in a car crash after he, Cathy and friend Angelica King (Rebecca Bakes) stole Wendy Posner's (Susan Cookson) car and took it for a joyride.

After crashing the vehicle, Cathy and Angelica survived the accident, but Heath lost his life as Wendy desperately tried to perform CPR on him.

Is a different actor playing Heath in Emmerdale?

Sebastian Dowling played the role of Heath since 2007, landing the part when he was a baby until he left the soap in 2024.

Sebastian and his sister Gabrielle were supposed to play Cathy and Heath from the characters' on-screen birth in 2007. However, Sebastian had to stay in hospital for one more week, so Lilith Kitching and Ella Whitehouse Downes played Cathy and Heath for a few appearances until the Dowling twins took over the roles.

Talking to Metro.co.uk, Gabrielle, who's played Cathy since she was four weeks old, said: "The studio and village have been a huge part of my life along with my brother’s [Sebastian, who plays Heath]). Having celebrated birthdays on set allowed me to feel close with the people around me and showed me how much of a family we are."

Are Cathy and Heath related in real life?

Yes — not only are Cathy and Heath on-screen twins, they're also twins in real-life too.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30 pm on ITV, with a hour-long episode on Thursdays — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on ITV Hub.