Emmerdale: As Paula Lane ‘confirms’ soap exit, what was the point of Ella?

At the end of last week, reports circulated that Paula Lane would be leaving Emmerdale as Ella Forster at the beginning of 2025.

This news looked to be ‘confirmed’ by the actress herself as her own Spotlight page stated that she would finish filming for the soap in February next year.

And, as this Spotlight page is linked in Paula’s official Instagram bio – it all looks to be rather legit… But, we’re not impressed with the news.

Emmerdale's Paula Lane serious — Paula’s Spotlight page revealed the news (Credit: ITV/ Composite EI!)

Paula Lane ‘confirms’ Emmerdale exit as Ella Forster

Currently in the Dales, Ella is showing her creepy side with some seriously questionable behaviour. She started stalking Dr Liam after being suspicious that he was seeing Chas whilst still in a relationship with her.

When Liam eventually confessed the truth, Ella was absolutely livid. And, with a killer past under her belt, perhaps Liam and Chas better be careful not to wind her up further.

Now though, actress Paula Lane’s Spotlight page reveals that she’s only filming for Emmerdale until February 2025. So, if we go by this, Ella’s final scenes will air on screen in the spring… Interesting.

Ella’s only been in the village for just under a year. And, it’s always felt like we’ve barely scratched the surface with her. But, with only months to go until Ella’s reported exit, we’re starting to wonder whether there’s any more depth to the character after all…

Emmerdale's Ella is serious in the Woolpack — The hype was there, but nothing else was… (Credit: ITV)

Emmerdale missed a trick with Ella

When it was announced that Paula Lane would be making an arrival into Emmerdale as Ella, there was a huge buzz. There was so much hype… wow, a Corrie favourite making the move over to a rival soap. It was all super exciting.

Most soap viewers were looking forward to see the talented Paula Lane back on our screens as a series regular in another show, but unfortunately Paula’s talent hasn’t been made the most of.

Perhaps part of us really hoped that Ella was linked to Emmerdale icon Meena Jutla no matter how wild this theory may’ve been. But, Ella’s secret revealed felt like a tiny bit of a let-down.

Never the less, after it was revealed that Ella had killed her best friend as a child and had spent time in prison, we were excited to see where the storyline could go. Was she going to kill again? Were there more skeletons in her closet?

But, ever since this killer reveal, all we’ve really seen has been Ella pining for Dr Liam (so like most of the women in the village then?) Yes, she’s creepy, and her obsession with Liam has us intrigued… but, with Ella’s exit coming rather soon, we’re wondering whether there’s much more to come. Was there even any point to the character?

Ella had more to give

Ella had potential to become a proper part of the village. She had good foundations yet they weren’t built upon. We would’ve loved to see the story go one of two ways in the form of a redemption storyline or for her to become Meena Jutla 2.0 (although the latter would be an extremely hard task, we must admit.)

There was so much more ground to cover, and Ella had so much more to give. Perhaps she’ll surprise us with a few more twists before she bows out. Maybe then, she’ll give us something to remember…