Emmerdale's Natalie J Robb explains real-life fight that left her with black eye

She’s survived a brain tumour, kept Cain steady through the heartbreak of Nate’s death, and somehow held her family together.

Emmerdale’s Moira Dingle is about to face even more drama. “It’s all kicking off,” says Natalie J Robb, who plays the farmer. “She’s still in recovery, her tumour was only diagnosed last year.”

Moira has stood strong for hubby Cain, who’s still reeling after the discovery of Nate’s body in a lake. “She knows what it’s like to lose a child, so she knows the pain he’s feeling,” Natalie says, referring to the death of Moira’s daughter Holly. “But there’s just so many different emotions going on.”

Guilt is one of them. Before Nate’s death, he was beaten by Cain – fuelled by a rumour that Moira tried to kiss him. Believing Nate and Moira’s old affair had sparked again, Cain lashed out. “That fight they had,” Natalie says, “Moira believes she caused it.”

Moira is well-known for her intensity and her strong temper and fans often tell Natalie they wish they had Moira’s fire. In some ways, Natalie gets it.

Raised just outside Glasgow, she was a tomboy in a farming community. “There were more boys than there were girls. I didn’t get on with girls,” she admits. “I was into playing football.”

But life was tough early on – Natalie was picked on by other girls and sometimes, it was brutal. “I was walking home from school one night,” she says.

“I had a bit of a black eye, my lip was bleeding. My mum said, ‘Come with me.’ She dragged me to one of the girls’ house and said, ‘You’re going to fight her one-to-one.’”

The fight was stopped before it escalated but the lesson stuck. “I was terribly shy and quite sensitive,” she says. “But I’ve definitely changed. Maybe Moira has helped.”

READ MORE: Dog food monthly subscription creates 'tailored menu' to meet each pups needs

Now, the Dingle-Barton clan is about to be dealt another blow. Joe Tate’s gunning for Moira’s land, hoping to hand it over to Kim Tate, his step-grandmother.

“Moira can be a bit crazy, fierce and protective,” says Natalie. “But she’s a fair woman when it comes to farming and her business. What they’re trying to do to her is awful, it’s really bad. Her hands are tied.”

Butlers Farm is already struggling but losing it would leave Moira and Cain homeless. “The outcome is going to be much worse,” Natalie says.

“Ultimately, she thinks they’re going to have to sell. But Joe tells her fibs about her being a tenant farmer. She’s going to try to do everything to save it. But working with Joe? He gets right under Moira’s skin.”

As pressure mounts, Cain also locks horns with his brother Sam – who works for Kim and is friends with her through wife Lydia. Things boil over when two intruders are found hiding in Moira’s barn. Cain blames Joe, and tensions erupt.

“I go to punch Joe Tate, but as I do that, I punch Lydia in the ear,” Natalie says. “It’s very convoluted but it creates a big rift between
Sam and Cain.”

Luckily, the off-screen atmosphere is far calmer. Natalie and Jeff Hordley (Cain) have been filming together for over a decade. “We can work together with our eyes shut,” she says.

“We have a nice friendship and a good working relationship. But it was also nice to work with Ned Porteous, who plays Joe,
and do things with Home Farm. It’s been talked about for a while, they’ve always wanted this land. They want the land for access, they don’t care about the farm.”

For Natalie, the storyline hits close to home. “I’ve got some farmer friends, they said that is the way it’s going a lot of the time. They’re making a lot of tenant farmers so they work their land,” she says.

“But they don’t have the same responsibility. It’s not theirs anymore, which is really sad. Farmers are a different breed, they have a different mindset and they don’t have time to mess around. They’re survivors. Even Jeremy Clarkson realises now how hard it is.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads.