‘It won’t last forever’: Emmerdale’s Verity Rushworth on healing from two life-changing events

Actress Verity Rushworth is part of a cohort of soap stars who grew up on screen. She arrived in ITV soap Emmerdale as Donna Windsor back in 1998, and played the character as she navigated her teenage years and transitioned into a young adult. 

The actress says her time there featured ‘many different phases’ of her life. When Verity was younger, she received countless letters from audience members on a range of subjects, including how they no longer felt embarrassed to have braces because Donna Windsor from Emmerdale had them.

During the final chapter of Donna’s life, the comments Verity received were about her alter-ego’s life as a bent copper, her relationship drama, and ultimately her dramatic demise – a storyline that’s still talked about today.

It was clear to me when I chatted to Verity Rushworth as part of Metro’s Beyond the Bubble series that she absolutely loved her time in the show.

‘It’s like a family up there. It’s like a second family because we spend so much time together. It teaches you to have such a strong work ethic as well, just from working with adults and different directors all my life. It was a really lovely step up to get into my passion, which is musical theatre. It set me up for the eight shows a week, which I went on to do for ten years.

‘You have different directors at Emmerdale, and they all have different styles and techniques – some are more technical, some are more about the emotions, and you soak it all up like a sponge, you’re just learning constantly. You’ve got to become a one take wonder because working on a soap is so fast.

‘You have to do so many things in a short space of time. I think you have a lot more time on the dramas and of course on the movies, but on a soap, six eps a week we were churning out, you know, you have to be absolutely spot on.’

As secure as she felt there, Verity eventually decided to leave and see what other parts of the industry had to offer.

‘I’d really embedded the character, but there was just something inside of me that wanted to explore other sides to the industry. I’d done three years training while I was at Emmerdale. I think if I joined later in my life there’s no way I would’ve left. Being so young, it was too soon to sort of stay there forever.

‘It was a huge decision because it’s a fantastic work environment, but when I got to 23 and I had graduated college, I just wanted to fly off and try new things.’

After joining the show in the late 90s, Verity departed in 2009. She made a brief return in 2014, for a storyline that eventually saw Donna die after jumping from a building with a criminal handcuffed to her.

Or did she?

As she discussed how touched she feels that Donna’s memory is kept alive through the likes of Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) and their daughter April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan), Verity couldn’t help ponder over the possibility of her character actually still being alive.

‘I mean I think there is scope for a Donna return…I do think that maybe she was scouted for MI5 work and the body was switched in the hospital at the last minute. She wasn’t really dead. She survived and it was all planned.’

Look, no one thought Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) would return from the dead. Anything is possible!

Verity’s life away from her success as an actress has changed a great deal in recent years. Mum to two children, the star was forced to navigate life as a single parent after splitting from her partner in 2021. 

Amid this incredibly difficult and stressful time, Verity understandably struggled, but always ensured her children came first ‘no matter what’.

‘They adjusted so quickly’, she said.

‘When you’re a single mum, you feel like it’s the hardest thing in the world, but you just get through it. Whether you meet someone or not, it doesn’t matter. You just get through it. And you know, we’re, we’re so strong, aren’t we? We can do anything that we put our minds to and even in the darkest moments, it’s just one step at a time. 

‘You come through the mist and into the daylight again, no matter what your situation is. There were days where I had forgotten to eat lunch, it’s just survival mode. Eventually, you start to realise oh, I can do this. You believe in yourself and then each day, your confidence builds. You just have to keep going.’

In 2024, Verity experienced another loss when her beloved father died.

Two years on, Verity feels her and her mum are now at a different stage of the grieving journey.

‘We’re trying to find the happy things, focus on the happy things’, she smiled.

‘What I’ve actually done as a form of therapy, if you like, is that I’ve written a memoir of my last week with him in the hospital. I know this sounds weird, but I’ve found so much humour in the tragic sadness. We found a lot of humour in that week, which I’ve written down, and I think so many people will relate to that if they’ve spent a week in a hospice.’

Verity went on to share a small insight into the humorous moments she experienced in the final week of her father’s life. 

And honestly, prepare yourselves. 

‘It really doesn’t go as smoothly as you think, it’s not like what you see in the movies, everyone sitting around the bed holding hands and someone peacefully slips away, the reality is often quite different. 

‘My mum’s got a little dog, and you cannot predict what he’s going to do. When my dad was being wheeled out, our dog was dry humping his toy rabbit behind us. 

‘When they’re wheeled out, often the staff are all lined up and it’s really silent. It’s really respectful…but all we could hear was one of the bed wheels needing some WD-40! You have to laugh at the time, I just had to. The funeral director went into the wrong room to begin with – he went next door to my dad – that man was very much alive! 

She reflected: ‘There was a wedding where a woman was in a bridal gown…but sat on a commode to get married. They did her wedding in the hospice reception entrance area, and our dog nicked a chicken drumstick and pooed on the corner of the carpet in the hospice. I’m not joking. It was insane.

‘We’re at the moment where we’re now finding humour in the darkness. We’re enjoying the happy memories because he was a real class clown. He always had a tale and a joke. He was the first one on the dance floor. He would love the fact we’re having these chats about the funny stuff.’

After spending time healing from her divorce, Verity is now in a relationship with entrepreneur, estate agent, and property developer Anthony Martin.

Verity and Anthony met each other on a blind date, after getting set up by Verity’s friend. Anthony made quite the entrance into Verity’s life. While heading down an escalator prior to meeting Verity, Anthony leaned over the handrail to ‘take a picture to send to his mates’ – but nearly fell off!

‘I was like that serves you right!’, Verity laughed.

‘He sat down and ordered a drink and I just knew straight away. He’s a proper geezer. He’s a great, genuine bloke with a heart of gold, but quite old school in the way he treats women. The date happened, and by 11pm we were still out!’.

With a keen eye for real estate herself, Verity was quick to say yes when Anthony asked if she was interested in getting involved in the development side of his estate agency.

‘I bought a plot of land which is now a four bed family home. It’s beautiful’, Verity said.

‘It’s the first time I’ve ever seen something go from nothing to an actual house. We’ve now got a plot in Folkestone, which is going to be eight affordable flats by the sea. We want to help create affordable housing’.

In an attempt to help those struggling to get onto the property ladder, Anthony and Verity decided to launch a raffle to give people the chance to win a beautiful family home in Kent.

The proceeds are supporting the children’s charity Echo, which supports children and young people with heart conditions.

Verity told me more about why this charity is so important to Anthony.

‘If we sell the right amount of tickets, we get to give a portion to a children’s charity. Anthony’s daughter at eighteen months had to have heart surgery, and her life was saved. She’s now seven and thriving, but she had a fifty fifty chance of survival. He’s always wanted to try and give back to Echo, the charity. He said, if we get this right, we can give as much to them as possible.

‘If it goes well, we can keep doing it. We’ve made these tickets three pounds on purpose and if you don’t win, you’re contributing to the charity as well.’

Now in a much happier and brighter era of her life, Verity revealed the advice she’d give to past versions of herself.

‘Just be kind to yourself. I put pressure on myself to just be okay and get on with it. Sit in the grief, allow the grief to happen. Make sure you eat and drink. Let the emotion flow – it’ll come and then it’ll go, and then it’ll come and then it’ll go again. It’s like when you give birth, it’s like a wave. You just have to breathe. Psychologically, just tell yourself that it won’t feel like this forever. 

‘This too shall pass. It won’t stick forever.’