Emmerdale's original Tina Dingle star now as actress Jacqueline Pirie replaced after 28 years

Emmerdale actress Jacqueline Pirie also starred in Coronation Street - but rejected a two-year contract renewal worth a reported £250,000

It's been 28 years since Emmerdale fans last saw Tina Dingle as she swapped the Dales for London on Christmas Eve in 1996.

And now she's back, as revealed in the latest episode released early on ITVX on Thursday morning - though not many viewers will recognise her after she's undergone the standard soap face transplant. Actress Jacqueline Chadwick (nee Pirie) originally took on the role as Zak's daughter from 1996 before departing two years later.

So where is she now? After being nominated for Most Popular Actress at the 1996 National Television Awards, she went on to play factory machinity Linda Baldwin (nee Sykes) in Coronation Street. Her storyline saw her become Mike Baldwin's fourth wife following his split from third wife Alma. During their relationship, Linda began an affair with his son Mark Redman, but the pair got found out by Mike and a year after marriage they were divorced.

Her character left the cobbles in 2001 and it was later revealed she had wed another rich man in Dublin the following year. Jacqueline's Corrie storyline won her Best Storyline at the British Soap Awards.

It was while Jacqueline starred on Corrie that she met her husband Simon. Speaking to Victoria News in 2013 about the first time she saw her husband, who was working as a part-time firefighter at the time, she said: "I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s lovely.’ I asked his name but he didn’t answer and ran away really fast. I called out for him to leave his number at the desk. … From there, I found him, stalked him and interviewed him. We were married three months later."

The pair told the press office at Corrie that they had decided to marry at Florida's Disney World, but instead ventured to Scotland to wed in private with two strangers as witnesses.

Jacqueline quit Corrie - reportedly declining a 'record-breaking £250,000, two-year contract - and took a break from acting. "I was seven months along and I had to film a scene where Mike slapped me in the face … three times. It just didn’t feel right,” she previously said. "I was overworked. It was 14-hour days, six days a week. On my day off I was learning my lines for next week. They left the storyline open and asked me to come back but I said ‘no.’"

In 2004, began her own performing arts workshop and, three years later, set up a drama school in her hometown of Stirling. The Jacqueline Chadwick was dissolved on March 16th 2010, according to documents filed to Companies House.

She moved to Canada with her husband Simon and their two children and later opened a performing arts academy. Jacqueline admitted finding being in the public eye tough, explaining: "It’s is a huge phenomenon. It was a whirlwind. You can’t be an actor on Coronation Street and be a normal person. You’re not treated the same way. Your kids aren’t treated the same way."

The former actress is now an author and woodworker and describes herself as "joyfully single". She is best known for her Ali Daglish crime thriller novels, which follows a former forensic pathologist and her family move to Canada before she's drawn into a grisly murder.

She also sells bespoke items on her site Elizabeth Adam, where she designs custom items such as exterior doors and stools for up to $500.

Jacqueline celebrated her 50th birthday earlier this month and shared photos of balloons and flowers she had received. In one tweet on X, she revealed she was a grandmother and - as they posted a photo of '50' balloons and gold streamers, wrote: "Thought my 50th would be a good time to catch up (can’t believe my last visit was 2018!) what a whirlwind, lots of changes, lots of life #novels #grandmother #joy #love #home #business."

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