After two decades at the emotional heart of Emmerdale, Isabel Hodgins is preparing to step away from the village — and her on-screen alter ego

Victoria Sugden may be leaving under a cloud darker than ever. For 20 years, viewers have watched Victoria grow from a child into one of the show’s most resilient figures,

a legacy character carrying the weight of the Sugden name. She has survived love, loss, tragedy and scandal, but the fallout from the explosive Corridale crossover

has pushed her to a precipice unlike anything before. Now, as Isabel prepares to welcome her first child in real life, she has confirmed she is taking a break from the ITV soap — and admits she “knew it was time.”

The timing could hardly be more dramatic.

In recent episodes, Victoria has been living with the unbearable burden of what really happened the night her half-brother John Sugden died. Although an official suicide verdict closed the case in the eyes of the law, the truth is far messier, and it is eating away at her. Every glance, every whisper in the pub, every quiet moment alone threatens to crack the fragile mask she has built.

Should she run? Or should she confess?

That is the impossible dilemma dominating Victoria’s final week on screen.

Those close to her can see the strain. Friends sense she is distracted, distant, perpetually on the verge of saying something she cannot take back. The audience, armed with knowledge of Joe Tate’s ruthless scheming, understands why. Joe is holding the ultimate weapon: video evidence that reveals what truly unfolded in John’s final moments.

But instead of going to the police, Joe has chosen blackmail.

In exchange for his silence, he has forced Victoria into an unthinkable position — persuading Moira Dingle, who is wrongly facing two murder charges, to sign the farm over to him. It is a demand that cuts straight through Victoria’s moral core. Protect herself and destroy another family, or refuse and risk everything.

The vice is tightening, and Victoria is running out of air.

For Isabel Hodgins, who joined Emmerdale in 2006 as the third actor to play Victoria, the storyline has provided some of the most intense material of her career. And yet, while her character is trapped in turmoil, Isabel herself is on the brink of joyous change.

Speaking about her departure, she has been remarkably honest about the swirl of emotions involved in saying goodbye — at least for now — to the place that has defined her professional life.

She admitted she expected tears when filming wrapped. Instead, something else surprised her: relief.

Emmerdale has been her home, her routine, her extended family. But pregnancy, she says, has a way of sharpening priorities. The relentless commute between Manchester and Leeds, once second nature, began to feel overwhelming as she prepared for motherhood.

By the end, exhaustion told her what her heart already knew.

It was time to rest.

“It suddenly feels very real,” Isabel has shared of becoming a mum. The role awaiting her off screen dwarfs any drama the Dales can throw at Victoria. There is excitement, anticipation, and an understanding that this chapter of her life will never come again in quite the same way.

Still, walking away — even temporarily — is monumental.

Generations of fans have grown up alongside Victoria. They remember her as a fiery child, a grieving daughter, a woman repeatedly forced to rebuild after devastation. She is woven into the fabric of the village; imagining Emmerdale without her feels almost unnatural.

That is why the writers have ensured her exit is anything but quiet.

As the week unfolds, Victoria’s inner conflict becomes unbearable. The idea of starting anew, free from secrets, tugs at her. Yet confession could detonate lives far beyond her own. Joe’s shadow looms large, his manipulation a constant reminder that freedom always comes with a price.

Will she go to the police?
Will she flee?
Or will circumstances rip the choice from her hands entirely?

Producers are keeping the outcome tightly guarded, but one thing is certain: Victoria will leave viewers talking.

Behind the scenes, Isabel’s castmates have rallied around her, celebrating the baby news that first broke just months after she married husband Adam Whitehead in Manchester. The milestone has added a layer of sweetness to the sadness of her departure. This is not a goodbye born of conflict or contract disputes; it is life moving forward.

And crucially, it is not forever.

Isabel has made clear she intends to return. Victoria Sugden’s story is far from finished, and in soap, unfinished business has a habit of waiting patiently. Joe Tate’s leverage, Moira’s peril, the truth about John — all of it will still be there when she comes back.

If anything, the pause may make the eventual reckoning even more explosive.

For now, though, fans must prepare to watch a cornerstone of the modern era walk away from the cobbles, carrying secrets that could one day burn the village to the ground.

Victoria’s future is uncertain. Isabel’s, meanwhile, is dazzlingly clear: motherhood, family, a new adventure greater than any script.

After twenty years of heartbreak in the Dales, she has earned that happiness.

But as every Emmerdale viewer knows, the village never forgets.

And when Victoria Sugden returns, it will be waiting.