ITV Emmerdales Sammy Winwards life off screen from normal job to lookalike daughter as she returns to TV

Emmerdale icon Sammy Winward is returning to TV, eight years after quitting the ITV soap to pursue a "normal" career.

Sammy, 38, joined Emmerdale as Katie Sugden in 2001 when she was just 15 years old and was introduced as Andy Sugden’s first girlfriend. She was at the heart of some dramatic storylines over the years which saw her get married, have numerous affairs and suffer a miscarriage, as well as shattering her pelvis after a fall.

The actress quit the show in 2015 and her character was killed off after she fell through rotten floorboards having been pushed to the ground by her ex-lover Robert Sugden. For her role as Katie, Sammy was nominated for the Popular Newcomer award at the National Television Awards.

Talking about her character's exit from Emmerdale, Sammy said at the time: "'It's probably best that she was killed off.

"Now I won't be looking over my shoulder all the time thinking: "What if I went back?" It's clean cut."

But what else do we know about the former soap star as she's set to return to TV.

'Normal' job and new TV role

Following her lengthy time on the ITV soap, Katie took a completely different career path and became an acting teacher. But eight years later the actress returned to TV to star in ITV's The Long Shadow.

The series which began in September, follows the story of the manhunt for serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper. Sammy played the role of Peter's wife, Sonia and starred alongside Toby Jones, Lee Ingleby and Katherine Kelly with the show focusing on the families and victims of the killer.

The 38 year old isn't the only soap star to return to TV to appear in the drama, as she's also joined by Emmerdale's Michael Parr, Charley Webb, Rob James-Collier, as well as EastEnders legend Jill Halfpenny.

Childhood sweetheart

Away from TV, Sammy is married to childhood sweetheart Martyn Hardy after the pair met at school. She was previously engaged to footballer David Dunn and had a daughter together called Mia in 2005 but the couple split just a few months later.

Celebrating six years since they got engaged in 2021, Sammy posted a sweet snap of her husband. She added the caption: "On our way home from our London celebrations. Had the most magical weekend. The ballet, comedy clubs, food food and more food and walking till our feet hurt. 6 years today since I got engaged to the love of my life, 4 years married, 24 years of friendship and still going strong. Here’s to 24+ more."

Lookalike daughter

During an appearance on Loose Women, presenter Kaye Adams noted that Mia was the "spitting image" of her soap star mum. The pair look identical with platinum blond hair and it's hard to believe they're 20 years apart.

Sammy previously revealed that her daughter is following in her acting footsteps. While celebrating Mia's 16th birthday in 2021, the proud mum wrote alongside a snap: "16 next week @miawinwarddunn following in my footsteps (even though she’s a better actress then I ever was at that age!)"

She added: "Entering into the crazy world of acting."

Sammy had also gushed about being a mum and said: "I always thought 'oh my god I'm only going to be 36/37 when she is 18' and I'm nearly there now and it's just crazy because we just feel like best mates really.

"Obviously, there is the mother and daughter relationship but we're more like best mates."

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