| Leyla Harding | |||||||||||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Roxy Shahidi | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2008–2011, 2013– | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 5060 11 August 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular (departing) | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Keith Richardson (2008) Kate Oates (2013) | ||||||||||||||||
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Leyla Harding (also Cavanagh) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Roxy Shahidi. She made her first on-screen appearance on 11 August 2008 and was introduced by series producer, Anita Turner. The character departed on 5 August 2011. Shahidi returned to Emmerdale for two episodes on 25 December 2013. She returned full-time in January 2014. On 5 January 2018, Shahadi took maternity leave from the show whilst pregnant with her first child. She returned on 3 October 2018. It was announced in October 2024 that Shahidi had quit the soap and Leyla would be killed off between the end of the year and the new year's.