Nicola Wheeler has became a staple to our screens over the years, thanks to her portrayal of Nicola King in the hit ITV soap Emmerdale.
The soap star, 47, joined the show back in 2001, and is now the longest-serving actress on Emmerdale.
She's found herself at the centre of several dramatic storylines throughout the years, including being caught in a cottage fire and discovering her fiancé was having an affair.
Before Nicola landed her role on Emmerdale however, she starred in rival soap Coronation Street as Melanie Tindel for a short period in 1999.
We've became familiar with Nicola's soap character over the past 21 years, but what do we know about the actress away from the cameras? Here we take a peek into her life away from the soap…
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Nicola was raised in Lancashire, and prior to finding soap stardom she appeared on Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns in the episode from Halifax.
She joined Emmerdale in 2001, and has remained on the show ever since apart from an 18-month hiatus in 2005.
The 47 year old has also appeared on Sky One show Cirque de Celebrité, and she won a British Soap Award in 2006 for her portrayal of Nicola King.
Nicola shares a son, Jude, 6, with her husband, Matt, who remains entirely out of the limelight.
The family of three are believed to currently reside in Yorkshire, with Nicola mainly keeping her family life private.
She has given a rare glimpse into her personal life on Twitter previously, having publicly confirmed her pregnancy in 2015 and shared snaps from family get togethers.
The official Emmerdale Twitter account confirmed the arrival of Nicola's son in 2015, writing: "BIG congratulations to @nicola_Wheeler and her baby boy, who arrived on Friday 13!"
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She previously opened up about her experience as a new mum and re-joining the soap after her maternity leave, telling Mirror: "I was very excited about being a mum for the first time and it was a great way to write Nicola out so that they could leave it open as to when I came back.
"I returned six months later and I can remember feeling appreciative about being around adults again. I was still breastfeeding though and I can remember putting out a sign saying ‘milking’ on my door so they knew when I was."
Emmerdale continues on weeknights on ITV.
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