Mark Charnock is celebrating 30 years as Marlon Dingle (Image: ITV)
Emmerdale’s Mark Charnock has praised his colleague Amelia Flanagan, who portrays April in the beloved soap.
Mark has been a fixture as Marlon for three decades, alongside fellow long-serving cast members Lisa Riley and Jeff Hordley.
Amelia joined the programme aged just four back in 2014, and has remained part of the show for numerous years since.
Discussing their working relationship as she’s matured, Mark offered glowing words about his young co-star during a chat on Lorraine this morning.
“It’s more than just a working relationship, you must feel a part of her family,” Lorraine Kelly observed, reports the Daily Star.
Mark Charnock appeared on Lorraine today (Image: ITV)
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Mark responded: “Yeah, her family are amazing, I’m really lucky to have them in my life as well.
“You see these young kids coming to shows and it’s not that common that they carry on, they either get re-cast later on down the line.
“Amelia has just gotten better and better and better. Watching her evolve as a person and an actress right in front of my eyes has been like, wow, it’s really been extraordinary to watch her talent develop.”
Amelia Flanagan plays April in Emmerdale (Image: ITV)
He continued: “I’m so lucky to work with her.”
At last year’s British Soap Awards, Amelia became emotional whilst collecting the Best Young Performer trophy.
Her brother William had also been nominated for his role in Coronation Street, and she paid tribute to him in her acceptance speech, saying: “This means everything. I just want to say, my little brother, who I love so much.”
She went on to thank everyone at Emmerdale, before concluding: “Thank you so much, this means the world to me.”
The actress has been a part of some harrowing storylines (Image: ITV)
Amelia has been a part of several difficult storylines, including a particularly harrowing one when April went missing and lived on the streets after finding out she was pregnant.
“It was an incredibly challenging, heavy topic to cover, but also such an important and current topic that we needed to address,” she said.
“We just had so much fun doing it and it was honestly one of the best moments of my career and I loved every minute of it. Seeing how much of a positive response it’s had means a lot and it’s incredible to hear.”
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays
