Lydia Hart

Lydia Hart is an oddball who ran a bereavement group in the village hall. She previously went on disastrous dates with Paddy Kirk and Rishi Sharma.

She is currently engaged to Sam Dingle and lodging at Mulberry Cottage with the Thomas family.

Biography
In 2014, Lydia's husband Steve died from a pulmonary embolism. Soon afterwards, Lydia got a parrot and named him after her husband.

2016-2017: Arrival in Emmerdale and settling in
Lydia was the leader of the bereavement support group held in the village hall that Jimmy King inadvertently attended in September 2016. At the group, bumbling Jimmy talked about his wife 'Ricola's' death, although his wife Nicola was actually alive and well. Jimmy struggled to keep up the lies and came up with far fetched stories to cover his deception. Nicola discovered Jimmy's deceit and Jimmy and Nicola argued during a bereavement meeting.

A few months later, Lydia turned up at Emmerdale Veterinary Centre with her depressed parrot Steve and she and vet Paddy Kirk decided to go for a drink in The Woolpack. Eric Pollard, who had previous attended the bereavement group, warned Paddy that Lydia was deranged. During their date Lydia bored Paddy by going on about her parrot and suggested a trip to the lawnmower museum. To save Paddy from Lydia's clutches, Paddy's estranged wife Rhona stepped in and told Lydia that she was his wife. Despite learning he was married, Lydia still wanted a relationship with Paddy so Paddy's other ex, Chas Dingle, helped him out and said she was Paddy's mistress, causing Lydia to slap Paddy. Lydia couldn't believe it and grabbed the microphone during a pub quiz and told people not to be fooled by Paddy before storming out.

A few months later, Lydia met Rishi Sharma on a dating website and they met up for a drink in The Woolpack. Marlon and Eric advised Rishi to run from Lydia but Rishi commented Lydia is as crazy as he is. The date was going well until Rishi's son Jai turned up at the pub drunk and called Lydia a 'munter'. Lydia decided to end things with Rishi due to this, but the following month got a job cleaning the Sharma's factory. A few weeks later she got another cleaning job at Home Farm. Due to this, she gave up her bereavement counselling job at the village hall.

Lydia soon asked game keeper Sam Dingle out. Although Lydia and Sam initially struggled for conversation, Lydia had a great time hearing Sam's bird calls. Sam later let her down gently after realising he had to make son Samson his top priority. Sam later persuaded Laurel Thomas to make Lydia (and a stuffed Steve) her lodger after hearing her complain about the daily commute. Sam and Lydia later rekindled their romance after Samson gave his approval and encouraged his father to take Lydia dancing. During her stay at Mulberry Cottage, she was almost to eager to please, cleaning the house as well as looking after the needs of the Thomas family.

In October 2017, she began to work overtime as she needed the money for not only her rent at Mulberry but still paying for her old home in Hotten. After overhearing a few phone calls and whispered conversations between Rishi Sharma and Lydia, Kerry Wyatt was convinced Lydia had been working as a sex slave for Rishi. After Sam heard about this, he confronted Rishi, only to be humiliated when he realised nothing indecent was taking place. Instead, Sam was spurred on to propose marriage and Lydia gleefully accepted.

The following month, a customer called Mrs Dumphreys died in the salon. It is later revealed that Lydia is a distant relation and the only heir. Unbeknown to her, Mrs Dumphreys had made a bet on the horses and it wasn't until after she passed away that salon owner Bernice Blackstock had discovered the win. Bernice and sister Nicola King then decided to keep the £100,000 until Bernice felt guilty. In December, Bernice's daughter Dee Dee showed up and, thinking her mother owned half the village, Bernice was determined to impress her daughter whilst frantically writing IOUs. After getting guilt presents from Bernice, Lydia discovered the truth. Dee Dee was also appalled to learn that her mother had lied about having a string of successful salons and left immediately. Lydia received the money and forgave Bernice, deciding not to go to the police.

Personality

 * Sandy Thomas: "She's relentlessly cheerful."

Lydia is often seen with a bizarre, erratic behaviour. She is an avid eco-warrior, often priding herself on her natural cleaning products in her job. With her cheery aura and colourful clothing, Lydia can come off as crazy and annoying, although she is mostly friendly and and eager people person, ready to help. Because of her background in bereavement counselling, Lydia is a kind, sensitive individual who will often lend an ear to other villagers and a shoulder to cry on. She is not also willing to help people, but is a blatant animal lover.

Lydia is unlucky in love. Having a husband who died, Lydia became lonely. But with her big heart, it is obvious that she wants to spend her life with someone, hence the dates with Paddy Kirk and Sam Dingle, along with finding Rishi Sharma on a dating site.

Sam Dingle
Lydia’s relationship with Sam Dingle is an all but simple one. She first met him in April 2017 after asking colleague Lisa Dingle if her son was single. The next day they went on a date at David’s Shop and after an awkward start, soon got on like a house on fire. After realising he had to put his son first, they mutually agreed not to see each other. She soon got a job at Home Farm, seeing Sam every day which strengthened their friendship. Months later, he invited Lydia to a dance and hurriedly accepted, believing he had feelings for her too. The next day, she told him how she felt and they shared a kiss.

After a misunderstanding in which Sam thought Lydia was working as a sex worker to boss Rishi Sharma, he proposed to which she said yes.

Career
We first see Lydia get a job in April 2017 after hearing that the cleaners at Sharma & Sharma had gone on strike. Chrissie White soon took pity on her and offered her another cleaning job at Home Farm. She has also lent her services as a cleaner and accountant at Take A Vow. She also got another cleaning job at The Woolpack in August 2017.

Whilst working at Sharma & Sharma, she created a fake cleaning assistant by the name of 'Una' so that she could work longer hours for the money. Ultimately, she was sacked for breaking the law in October 2017 until she was reinstated the next day.

Role in the community
Lydia started giving dance classes at the village hall in June 2017. Doug, Eric, Lisa, Ronnie, Faith, Sarah, Sam and Samson turned up. Despite Lydia's teaching and expertise, Faith convinced the others to freestyle.

Hobbies and interests
Much of Lydia’s passion is based around her love of her late parrot Steve. Other than caring for her now deceased (and stuffed) pet, Lydia also showed that she's caring when she ran a bereavement group at the village hall, long before getting cleaning jobs at Sharma & Sharma, Home Farm and The Woolpack. Due to having Steve, a lot of Lydia's furniture, clothes and belongings are animal and bird-themed, with a lot of items containing cockatoos. Lydia is also against animal testing, once voicing her distaste for Lachlan White's deodorants.

Lydia has turned her hand to gardening as well.

Lydia loves dancing. She was once 'Yorkshire Junior Amateur Ballroom Champion' three years in a row, between 1994 and 1996. Apparently, people crossed the Pennines to witness her reverse fleckerl. She taught Doug Potts how to dance in June 2017 so that he could impress partner Diane, which turned into further dance classes at the village hall and The Woolpack. Her love of dancing reflects Lydia's tempestuous attitude.

She also has a love of films, with the 1988 film Beaches being the inspiration for the bereavement group, after watching it three times in a row. Lydia is a fan of Molly Ringwald. She has also taken to karaoke at many parties, even if she does insist on always cleaning up after. Having a distinct interest in Gary Barlow, believing that he unites us all together.

Lydia can also say 'thank you' and 'goodbye' in ten languages, including BSL.

In the past, Lydia has also shown that she is very creative, such as making dresses for baby Eliza.

Romantic Interests

 * Steve Hart (Unknown to 2014)
 * Paddy Kirk (December 2016)
 * Rishi Sharma (March 2017)
 * Sam Dingle (April 2017 to present)

Other information

 * She has Eremikophobia, the fear of sand.
 * She had an Aunty Mimi, who was her second cousin once-removed on her mother's side. She died in Beauty & Bernice in November 2017 and inherited her estate.

Background information

 * Lydia made sporadic appearances between September 2016 and March 2017, but due to popular reception returned as a regular cast member in April 2017. During this time, the character was credited as simply 'Lydia', although giving her surname in dialogue.

Quotes

 * "Hello! We've got coffee and doughnuts from the cafe if you want one." (First line, to Jimmy King)