Roxanne Pallette has spoken out about how she was sexually harassed and “groped” while working in theatre.
The Emmerdale star said that she experienced multiple incidents of “physical and mental” sexual misconduct.
She also said that when she tried to complain about the incidents she was told to “leave it.”
Pallette told the Daily Star newspaper:
“I was told by a stage manager that he had masturbated over pictures of me. On another occasion, I was groped by a crew member by the side of the stage.
“I turned to an older actress for support and she actually told me sternly to ‘leave it’ and not cause a scene, so I felt very alone and almost like I was perceived as being oversensitive when my gut instinct told me otherwise.”
Pallette played Jo Sugden in Emmerdale for three years between 2005 and 2008.
She has also starred in other British TV shows such as Waterloo Road and Casualty.
Pallette’s story comes just a few weeks after ‘the silence breakers’ were named TIME‘s Person of the Year for their role in exposing the actions of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin, Spacey, and others.
The actress also commended the bravery of these women.
She said:
“The surge of actresses coming forward and sharing their stories of abuse is a relief and breaks the taboo which we have all been dealing with.”
Since her departure from the soap, rumours have circulated concerning Pallette’s return, however, nothing has been confirmed by ITV.
