| Nell Fairfax | |||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||
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| Portrayed by | Scarlett Archer | ||||
| Duration | 2017 | ||||
| First appearance | 30 March 2017 | ||||
| Last appearance | 12 September 2017 | ||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||
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Nell Fairfax is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Scarlett Archer. She made her first appearance on 30 March 2017. Archer was grateful to join the soap opera and was able to quit her job as a waitress, although she found the Emmerdale filming schedule terrifying. She enjoyed playing Nell due to the character being different from herself. Nell was introduced as a recovering drug addict who Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) meets at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Nell reminds Jai of his former girlfriend Holly Barton (Sophie Powles), who died of a drug overdose. Jai tries to help Nell and he becomes her rock. Nell later moves in with him and they start a relationship, much to the disapproval of Jai's family. Nell later tells Jai that she has a daughter who was taken into care; Jai encourages Nell to track Rosie down, but Nell then reveals that Rosie has died and supposedly takes him to her funeral.
In July 2017, it was announced that Archer would be leaving the soap at the end of Nell's storyline. Nell's exit storyline begins when Nell tells Jai that she is pregnant, which he is shocked by. He decides to propose to Nell, but he ends up discovering that Nell has been conning him since they met. Nell then confirms that she is not a drug addict, she does not have a daughter who died and she is not pregnant, and it is revealed that Nell Jai out after reading about Holly's death in the hopes that she could make him happier. Archer revealed that she had known about the twist since she joined the soap and that she had tried to give clues to show that Nell was lying by making her emotional scenes seem not too real, which led to people telling Archer that she was a bad actress. Archer kept the reveal a secret from her family and friends as she did not want to spoil the surprise for them. Nell's final episode aired on 12 September 2017, which involves Nell leaving the village and beginning to con someone else.
Viewers were suspicious of Nell since the beginning of her stint, which Archer believed was due to the fact that Nell came out of nowhere. Critics reported how viewers were unsure if Nell could be trusted. Critics were suspicious of Nell and noted the similarities between Nell and Holly. Some viewers speculated that Nell could have contributed to Holly's death, whilst others theorised that Nell could be the secret daughter of established character Emma Barton (Gillian Kearney). Viewers were conflicted of Nell's claim of her daughter dying, with some believing the character and others thinking that it was fake. Following the exposure of Nell's lies, some viewers were shocked but others felt happy that her con had been exposed. Fans had theorised that Nell had tracked Jai down after reading the article about Holly's death, which was later revealed to be correct.