Ray stabs Celia on Emmerdale on New Year's Eve, 2025 / ITV
Emmerdale star Jaye Griffiths has given her backing to her character Celia being murdered in shock scenes on New Year’s Eve.
Celia only made her Dales debut in June but has had a devastating impact on the community, running a drugs operation involving young April (Amelia Flanagan), a modern slavery racket involving Bear (Joshua Richards) and a farming front that implicated Moira (Natalie J Robb).
On Wednesday night’s episode, her “son” and right-hand man Ray (Joe Absolom) finally flipped at her constant taunting of him and his budding relationship with Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) and fatally stabbed her.
“Oh gosh yes, she had to be killed off,” veteran actress Griffiths told The Mirror. “Otherwise she would have gone and done it to another family. There is no redemption for Celia unless she had a complete change of character.
“But then even if she could come back, what would she do? No, it’s right she has been murdered.
“She lost control, too. Suddenly, Ray didn’t do as he was told. She wasn’t happy that Ray was in love with Laurel and him not wanting to leave the village was catastrophic for Celia.
“The idea that Ray wanted to live some cute suburban life was preposterous to Celia. It didn’t occur to her that he wanted a change in life.”
Reflecting on. her short stint on the soap, Griffiths said: “Working on Emmerdale has been one of my best TV jobs ever. There is still that thing of women being maternal, caring and the givers. Celia was none of these and I’ve loved playing her.
“It has also been very hard to face the reality of leaving and it took me ages to learn my lines, because I was so resistant to it happening. It came to my last scene and I nearly cried, then I had to lie on the cold floor pretending to be dead. It has been very hard.”
Emmerdale continues weekdays from 7am on ITVX and at 8pm on ITV1.
