Riley, who plays Mandy Dingle on the ITV soap, took to Instagram to share a throwback snap of herself and Silva in action as their Emmerdale characters, alongside a photo from their recent reunion.

“On the left 27 years ago on @emmerdale on the right TONIGHT gorgeous catch up and dinner @gino.leeds with my life long friend @silvaliningx getting older yet getting more giddy,” she captioned the post, adding: “MANDY & KELLY”.

Silva initially played Kelly Windsor from 1993 to 2000, before returning for a two-year period in 2005 and a three-month stint in 2011.

The nostalgic reunion was quick to spark calls from fans for Kelly’s return to the Dales, with one writing: “Bring her back!”

“Kelly should return to Emmerdale,” said another, while a third wrote: “Imagine the scenes if Kelly came back now”.

Riley herself expressed hopes for Kelly’s return last year, telling Inside Soap: “I want Kelly Windsor back! And I think it would work because she has a link to Jimmy [King].

“She was Mandy’s best friend, and me and Adele Silva are still really close.”

“I think she’s a great actress and there’s a lot of untold stories there,” she added. “For example, what did Kelly and Mandy get up to when I wasn’t in the show for all those years?”

Silva also discussed the possibility of returning to Emmerdale in December 2022, saying that she would “definitely go back” if she was asked.

“Obviously Kelly’s son is there and she’s not seen him for years. Then there’s little April. You can imagine Marlon’s face if her auntie Kelly turned up. He’d be horrified,” she said.

“Mandy was Kelly’s best friend – I love that Lisa’s back as Mandy. We’re still really close. We try to catch up as much as we can.”