TRIBUTES have been paid to former Emmerdale star Leah Bracknell, who has died three years after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Leah, 55, who played vet Zoe Tate in the Yorkshire soap from 1989 to 2005, was also a qualified yoga teacher and ran a course of classes at Shipley’s DM Academy, while living in Baildon.

In 2016, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. A fundraising appeal to pay for treatment in Germany raised £50,000 and it is reported that she lived longer than her prognosis, until her recent death.

Tributes have been paid to the mother-of-two by actors including Sarah Lancashire and Emmerdale star Lisa Riley, who tweeted: “GOD BLESS YOU LEAH. A true angel to work with. You lost your battle far far to young. R.I.P. heaven gains an angel of the truest form.”

A statement from Emmerdale said: 

"Everyone on Emmerdale is very sad to hear of the death of Leah Bracknell. Leah was a hugely popular member of the Emmerdale cast for over 16 years. During that time she featured in some of the show's most high profile and explosive plots and always delivered a pitch perfect performance. Zoe Tate was one of soaps first lesbian characters and Leah made sure the character was both exciting and credible. Leah herself was a very generous and caring colleague, much loved by cast and crew alike."
 

As troubled Zoe Tate, Leah was the first lesbian on a British soap and was involved in some of Emmerdale’s most explosive storylines. Her character battled mental illness, a drink problem and was the victim of a rape. Leah won a British Soap Award for Best Exit after Zoe left the show in a blaze of glory, blowing up her former family home which she had been conned into selling.

After Emmerdale Leah played no-nonsense matron Jenny Carrington in The Royal Today, a modern-day spin-off of Sixties medical drama The Royal, filmed at St Luke’s Hospital in Bradford. She also appeared in TV dramas such as DCI Banks, also filmed in Bradford, and Doctors.

In an interview in 2011 Leah told the T&A how yoga had helped to calm her nerves when she landed her first theatre role in nearly 20 years, after leaving Emmerdale.

“I hadn’t been on stage for such a long time. I kept thinking ‘What have I done?’” she said. “Then I took my yoga mat to my dressing-room and did an hour of yoga before I went on stage. I was amazed at how calm I was.”

Leah took up yoga two decades ago and taught it for several years. She released two DVDs; Yoga And You and Yoga For Life.

“I was always interested in alternative therapies, particularly yoga, but it took me two years to pluck up courage to join a class, “ she said. “I got into it when I was a working mum with two young children. Like many people, I thought it would be super-flexible people bending their limbs into all sorts of positions. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to follow it.

“But that first session changed my life.”

While working on The Royal Today, in 2008, Leah revealed she had worked in a real hospital. “I’d just left drama school and wanted to gain a bit of life experience, so I worked as an auxiliary on a geriatric ward in a South London hospital for a while,” she said. “It gave me an insight into how hard nurses work.”