As Emmerdale ’s Amy Wyatt steps in to help support her sister Chloe Harris navigate the emotional rollercoaster of a pregnancy scare this week, all eyes will be on actress Natalie Ann Jamieson, as she continues to bring the storyline to life.
But while Natalie’s portrayal of Amy may be more familiar to viewers due to her current tenure on the soap, she isn’t the first actress to have stepped into Amy’s shoes, as the role was originally played by fellow Geordie actress, Chelsea Halfpenny when the character first arrived on our screens all the way back in 2010.
Watching the character grow up before our very eyes, Chelsea was just 19 years old when she made her soap debut as rebellious teenager Amy, with the character enjoying a wealth of hard hitting storylines during her three year tenure, including discovering she had fallen pregnant by Emmerdale bad boy Cain Dingle.
She famously walked away from the role in 2013 to pursue other projects, but what is she up to now?
Life after Emmerdale
Two years after leaving Emmerdale, Chelsea returned to our screens in BBC medical drama Casualty, where she played the junior doctor Alicia Munroe, one of three new characters introduced at the same time as part of a shake up of the current cast.
Originally, Alicia was only ever intended to be a small recurring guest role, with Chelsea contracted to work just eight episodes in total – however she proved to be such a huge hit with fans that she was invited to become a series regular!
Starring on Casualty for four years in total, during that time Alicia was involved in a number of gritty storylines, including a tense love triangle between brothers Caleb Knight and Ethan Hardy – and a harrowing rape at the hands of her fellow doctor Eddie McAllister.
Her final episode aired on 19 January 2019.
Stage Career
As well as finding fame on screen, after leaving Emmerdale Chelsea also turned her attention towards a stage career when she appeared on London’s West End in a production of 9 to 5: The Musical, the same year that she departed from Casualty.
After receiving high praise for her portrayal of the character Judy in the show, Chelsea was offered another role in a rival production, and took on the challenge of stepping into the lead role of Jenna in smash hit Waitress, as it toured the UK in 2020.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic meant that the tour had to be postponed, but did begin without a hitch one year later, with Chelsea taking over the role from star Lucie Jones, in January 2022.
Finding Love
With her career at an all time high, Chelsea’s love life also appeared to be following a similar trajectory, when she fell head over heels for Emmerdale actor James Baxter, who famously played Jake Doland in the ITV soap.
The couple first began dating in 2018, with the couple later announcing their engagement in June 2021, with an adorable social media post that shared the happy news as Chelsea delightedly told her fans he had finally “put a friggin ring on it!”
"Obv changed his name to ‘FIANCÈ [green heart emoji]’ immediately on my phone,” wrote the star.
She added: "Also congrats to my 14-year-old self on managing to get the boy with the spikey hair that she fancied so much." followed by a heart eyes emoji, Champagne flutes emoji and a stars emoji.
As of September 2023, the couple are still happily engaged.
Baby Joy
In April 2023, Chelsea first revealed to fans that she and James were expected their first child as she showed off her blossoming baby bump in a stylish cheetah print dress.
"As if renovating a house wasn't enough, we've decided to grow a baby at the same time!" she told her 32,000 followers.
"Officially MENTAL @jamesbaxterrealtalk But we are so close to meeting our new little best mate!"
Amy's fiance James, 32, also reshared the post to his Instagram story, adding a string of red heart emojis too.
"Let's hope they're like you for both our sakes," he later added along with crying laughter emojis in a cheeky message to his wife-to-be.
Fast forward to June 2023 and the couple’s newest addition arrived safely into the world, with their adorable baby girl being granted a very tongue in cheek moniker from her parents: “Cream Knuckleberry Baxter.”
In a birth announcement post shared online, proud dad James told his followers: "Welcome to the world – Cream Knuckleberry Baxter.
"May you eat, sleep and sh*t with such ferocity your whole life! We love you.”
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