The soap star tells The Mirror how practising Wicca is part of her every day, with her self-help spells helping fans with all kinds of issues in their lives too
Emmerdale legend Bernice Blackstock has been bewitching men for more than 25 years and is about to magically appear for her daughter’s wedding.
The former barmaid, played by Samantha Giles, is full of surprises and her arrival shocks her girl Gabby Thomas, played by Rosie Bentham.
A happy ever after is already in doubt for Gabby, whose vicar dad Ashley died of vascular dementia. Her intended, Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson), has been questioning his own sexuality.
Four-times wed Bernice, who left in 2023 after a £20,000 fraud against her sister Nicola and brother-in-law Jimmy King, is unlikely to give sensible motherly advice, says Samantha. “I think Gabby’s a little bit like her mother, who hasn’t got a great track record when it comes to men.”
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Samantha, 54, first stepped behind the Woolpack bar in 1998 and has been in and out of the ITV soap ever since. She says: “It was lovely to go back and revisit the character and see everyone. It was really good fun.” She admits she took her steady job on Emmerdale for granted: “When you’re out there in the world, you realise it’s so hard getting regular work as an actor. There is so much competition. I feel very lucky that I was invited back.”
But Samantha, who is originally from Kent and now lives in Merseyside, has recently enjoyed playing Auntie Val in CBeebies show Football Fantastics, which is available on BBC iPlayer. “That’s such a different character. She’s a bit of a hippy.” Soon she will be seen in The Secret Santa Project, a Christmas film adapted from Tracy Bloom’s bestselling novel. “It’s kind of a cross between Love Actually and Elf.”
Her Emmerdale character’s charms have often been spellbinding for the village men, including Andy Sugden, played by Kelvin Fletcher. In real life, Samantha practises white witchcraft – or Wicca – a modern form of paganism. She even cast a spell to find her husband of 15 years, TV producer Sean Pritchard, and says she conjured up her new film role, too.
“I definitely manifested the film job last December, because leading up to it I felt very positive. Without knowing what it was, I just knew something was coming. I asked for something challenging and it was very challenging.” Samantha offers selfhelp kits on her website for people to cast their own spells to aid with everything from better sleep to selling houses.
“People have had fantastic results. The ‘change your luck’ charm has been very good to people going through IVF. I’ve heard some lovely stories.” As a mum to two teenage girls, she says: “You have to totally, totally believe it’s going to happen. If there’s any shred of doubt, you’re putting a block towards what you want to achieve.”
Samantha follows daily rituals, such as using protective herbs in the house, and she tries to eat seasonal produce. “I like to have a daily walk, because I think it’s very important to get back in touch with nature, to feel that you are in tune with natural cycles. I think it brings you home to yourself.” The next big date for Samantha will be Halloween – known as Samhain in Wicca.
She says: “I really love autumn, it’s a special time of change and transformation. The veil is very thin on Samhain between this world and the next, so if you feel like you need a message from relatives that have passed away, that’s the day. I will maybe have a chat to anybody who has passed on that I felt particularly close to.
“We lost a very close friend a couple of years ago. I do talk to her and, in return, I can feel her presence and imagine what she would say to me.”
Samantha has written two bestselling children’s novels about her passion, Rosemary and the Witches of Pendle Hill, and Rosemary and the Book of the Dead. The final part of the trilogy is out soon.
She has also spent the past year writing a historical fiction, centred on women, for adults. She is considering starting a book reviews podcast. Samantha says she is game for most things but reality TV is out.
“I couldn’t do the jungle because I’m just so terrified of spiders. I’m too sensitive and I’m not a natural extrovert. I might just want to tell people to stop talking and be quiet.”
With fewer prime-time appearances, Samantha is less immediately recognisable except to Emmerdale fans. She says: “Someone came up to me on the plane when we came back from holiday.
“They poked me and asked me if I was in Emmerdale – I don’t mind people coming up to me but I was asleep with my eyes closed.”
Source: Mirror
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