Emmerdale star Charlotte Bellamy has revealed she was shocked to discover the latest twist in Laurel Thomas’ love life.

Earlier this year, the character split from her third husband Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) with the former couple locked in a bitter divorce battle.

Since being single, she has thrown herself into church life, and has been busy arranging a harvest festival with vicar Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin) and his mother Claudette (Flo Wilson).

However, Laurel has clashed with the pair, who believe her ideas are too modern for a church setting.

This week, though, that tension turned into passion for Laurel and Charles, who ended up sharing a kiss during a confrontation, before heading upstairs to the bedroom.

Speaking of the unexpected twist, actress Charlotte – who has played Laurel since 2002, says: ‘I didn’t see it coming! I think it’s probably a little bit of a rebound, and the fact that he’s got a dog collar on, probably.

‘It’s a bit of fun, really. And I think after Jai, she needs a bit of fun, doesn’t she?’

Charlotte doesn’t believe Laurel has any deep feelings for Charles, however, insisting her character is going to be ‘quite happy being single for a while and being her own woman’.

‘She’s got her friends, like Nicola, and I think they’re going to have a bit of fun. I think that’s quite important to see that you don’t have to be partnered off, do you, as a woman? But at the same time, you can have a bit of fun as well,’ she explains.

Asked how she believes Laurel’s ex Jai will react if he found out about Laurel and Charles’ dalliance, she adds: ‘I think as a man, that Laurel’s moved on so quickly, he’s probably has his ego dented a bit. I think that’s really how he feels.

‘But actually he’s doing the dirty on Laurel with the divorce settlement. So he’s moved on to other things as well. There’s not a huge amount of love lost there.’