Who is Coronation Street's Gemma Oaten and what character did she play in Emmerdale?
11 November 2021, 11:12
Who played Rachel Breckle in Emmerdale and what is Gemma Oaten doing now?
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Coronation Street has got a brand new character in the form of Isla Haywood.
Isla wasted no time making herself at home as she ended up asking Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) on a date.
But as Fiz Stape (Jennie McAlpine) started to get very jealous, Corrie viewers were distracted by the actress who plays Isla.
Here’s everything you need to know...
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- Emmerdale fans recognise Andrea's mum Hazel from Coronation Street
- Is Jamie Tate coming back to Emmerdale or has he left for good?
Who is the new character in Coronation Street?
Coronation Street’s new character Isla is played by Gemma Oaten.
Gemma, 37, made her debut on the cobbles on Wednesday evening as Tyrone Dobbs' new love interest.
The drama kicked off when Fiz's new boyfriend Phil (Jamie Kenna) told Tyrone that Ruby had been invited to a party but Hope would have to miss out as she's not welcome.
At the party, Tyrone told Penny he wasn’t impressed by her attitude towards Hope, which impressed newcomer Isla.
She then went on to praise Tyrone for putting Penny in her place and asked him out for a milkshake.
But it later turned out that Isla is actually married to a man called Tony, which could cause some problems for Tyrone.
Opening up about her new role, actress Gemma recently teased: "Isla tells Tyrone she liked being married, but [her husband Tony] was a pipe and slippers kind of bloke. Then Tony comes in, and he ain’t pipe and slippers! Poor Tyrone is going, 'Who's this?' Isla is in the middle.
"You can see a tinge of, '[Tony] is fighting for me, he wants me!', but when Tyrone gets punched, she’s like, 'Oh my god, what are you doing?!' and that’s where some of the actual realities of their relationship come out."
Coronation Street are back filming with strict social distancing
Who did Gemma Oaten play in Emmerdale?
This isn’t Gemma’s first soap role, as she played Rachel Brekle in Emmerdale.
Rachel made her debut on the show in 2011 and was joined by her sister Ali, Ali’s partner Ruby, niece Amelia and nephew Sean.
Her storylines included a feud with Charity (Emma Atkins) and having a one night stand with her boss of Sharmas’ sweet factory Jai (Chris Bisson).
Rachel discovered that she was pregnant and welcomed baby boy Archie, which led to the breakdown of Jai’s marriage to Charity.
Rachel left the show with Archie in 2015 after being framed for Arson by Charity, with viewers finding out that Rachel sadly passed away off screen.
Aside from her roles on Corrie and Emmerdale, Gemma has also made several guest appearances on Holby City as Nurse Sydney Somers.
She has also been honest about her struggle with anorexia during her teens and her mum Marg was awarded an MBE for setting up the eating disorder charity SEED.
