Who is Isabel Hodgins? Emmerdale star who witnessed Manchester terror attack suicide bombing at Ariana Grande gig
EMMERDALE star Isabel Hodgins has revealed the horrors inside the Manchester bombing that took place after an Ariana Grande gig on May 22.
Here's where you might recognise her from, and what she saw...
Who is Isabel Hodgins? What's her background?
Isabel is a 23-year-old actress who is most known for her role as Victoria Sugden in Emmerdale.
The star has been born and bred in Eccles, Greater Manchester.
Landing the role aged just 13, Isabel has little professional training.
However, she was so desperate to make it as an actress she made an appeal in a local paper, the Salford Advertiser, to try and get the finds she needed to spend a year at London's Sylvia Young's Theatre School.
She landed the role in Emmerdale before she could attend.
What did Isabel see at the Manchester Arena attack?
Isabel was at the Manchester Arena show to see Ariana Grande perform and saw the tragedy unfolding.
Speaking to Sky News after the incident, Isabel gave a chilling account of the moment the bomb went off and the panic that followed.
She said: "We were all leaving and then there was a big bang to our left. Everybody ran away from that immediate area. We didn’t know what had happened. People were screaming and running but then it kind of died down."
Isabel added: "We didn’t know if a balloon had gone off, because balloons had been released in the concert so we didn’t know if it was that.
"Everybody was panicking. There was pushing up the stairs. People were obviously running, climbing down and over the chairs.
"As we got out, everybody was screaming and crying and then the corridor was full of – it smelled of burning and there was quite a lot of smoke as we were leaving."
Isabel described her shock after learning there had been fatalities in the incident.
She said: "It’s just terrifying and it’s really shocking. My heart goes out to anybody that’s been hurt or anything like that. It’s just terrifying."
Who does Isabel play in Emmerdale?
Isabel has played Victoria Barton/Sugden on the ITV soap since 2006.
She was the third actress to take on the role, after Jessica Haywood, and Hannah Midgley.
A year after landing the role, she was nominated for Best Newcomer at the TV Choice Awards, but she didn't win.
Victoria is a barmaid at the Woolpack, and is currently married to Adam Barton (played by Adam Thomas).
However, the pair split earlier this year when it was discovered that adam was infertile so they couldn't have their own children.
