Emmerdale Star Speaks Out After Storyline Receives Complaints

Emmerdale's Natalie Anderson has spoken out about one of the soap's current storylines, saying she knew it would receive complaints. The show aired harrowing scenes last week when Natalie's character Alicia Metcalfe was sexually assaulted by 14-year-old Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson). Broadcasting regulator Ofcom received almost 50 complaints after viewers questioned the suitability of such a plot for the soap's pre-watershed timeslot. Earlier today, Natalie appeared on ITV's This Morning and spoke out about the complaints. "We knew that there would be [complaints]. It's a very contentious, sensitive storyline, so Emmerdale and Kate [Oates], our producer, were quite prepared for the fact that this would be shocking. "Obviously everything was implied, nothing was explicit and there was so much research that went into it. We knew that there would be people who had complaints. "I think, to be honest, in the grand scheme of things there's been more praise for the storyline than complaints for the storyline, which has been brilliant for us. "Essentially we want to open up debate for why would a 14-year-old boy do this?"