Emmerdale’s Michelle Hardwick admits she’s 'scared to hold hands with fiancée Kate Brooks’ in public
5 August 2019, 12:32 | Updated: 5 August 2019, 12:53
Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick has admitted she and fiancée Kate Brooks are often 'scared' to hold hands in public.
Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick has revealed that she’s often scared to hold hands with her fiancée Kate Brooks in public.
The actress - who plays vet Vanessa Woodfield - has been in a relationship with ITV producer Kate for two years, with the pair announcing their engagement in December.
Speaking to the Mirror, she said: "Sometimes if Kate and I see a group of young lads we instinctively let go of each other’s hands because we’re scared they’ll turn on us.
She later continued: “We live with that fear every day… I feel like we're going backwards in society with our attitudes.
“So people who say, 'Gay Pride? Why isn't there a Straight Pride?' I'll tell you why, because you don't need it. Because luckily for you, you're able to be affectionate with your partner in public and you won't be abused for it. It's absolutely vile what goes on.”
Despite admitting she worries about homophobic attacks, Michelle revealed she has received hundreds of messages of support for her same-sex relationship with on-screen wife, Charity Dingle (Emmy Atkins).
Confessing she is often contacted by fans from the LGBT+ community, she said: “It never stops and I always try and reply to everyone.
“And I get a lot of messages from viewers who aren't gay saying, 'What you're showing is normal and it's great it isn't hidden away'.
“It isn't like Charity and Vanessa are rammed down people's throats all the time, but it's lovely the characters are still together.”
Read More: Emmerdale's Mandy Dingle returns as Lisa Riley makes her comeback 'for good'
Michelle announced that she and Kate, 41, were engaged in an Instagram snap two months after confirming her relationship with the Emmerdale producer.
Opening up about how the couple started dating, Michelle recently said during an appearance on Loose Women: “We met a couple of years ago, across the coffee machine, that's the only time we ever see each other at work, we started going out a couple of years ago.”
The star then went on to reveal how she proposed, explaining she hired a flash mob of The Greatest Showman.
She said: “After the song A Million Dreams, one of the performers gave me a microphone and I said ‘I've got you here for another reason’ and said ‘I'm gonna ask you a question but there's somebody else to help me’, and our dog came out and he had a little jumper on that said ‘mummy please say yes!’”
