Linda Lusardi has revealed the real reason her time on Emmerdale was so brief, and she points the finger at Patsy Kensit. The former model joined the ITV soap in 2007 as Carrie Nicholls, mother of Tom King's illegitimate daughter Scarlett. Her character arrived to stir up trouble for the King family but left soon after revealing she was Lexi Nicholls' mother, not sister.
Speaking on the Lewis Nicholls Life Stories podcast, Lusardi explained that a rule change implemented after Kensit's departure prevented her from securing weekends off. Living in London with her family, she wanted to return home on weekends, especially after her son injured his chin at school. When contract negotiations came up, she made weekends off a key condition.
"I just thought I can't do this anymore," Lusardi said. "It's Patsy Kensit's fault. Because they'd given her the weekends off because she lived in London and had kids, and it caused so much animosity among the rest of the cast that they said never again. When she left, they said we won't ever do that again."
Lusardi, who also appeared in Brookside and Hollyoaks, reflected on her modelling career and admitted she might have pursued acting earlier if she'd discovered it sooner. She also ruled out joining OnlyFans, calling it "weird" and expressing concern about content being screenshotted or recorded.
