Michelle Hardwick didn\'t tell her family she\'s a lesbian until she was "28 or 29".
The 42-year-old actress plays Vanessa Woodfield on \'Emmerdale\', and Michelle - whose on-screen character is also lesbian - has been touched by fans\' reaction to her relationship in the ITV soap.
She said: "I\'m getting a lot of messages. I think we have helped quite a few people.
"I didn\'t come out to my family until I was 28 or 29. I just found it hard because there was nobody. I talked to my mum and dad.
"I think there was just Ellen DeGeneres, that was it. And she wasn\'t the Ellen that she is today. They probably hadn\'t even heard of her back then. It is really important."
Michelle\'s on-screen love is played by actress Emma Atkins, who stars as Charity Tate.
And she\'s revealed she\'s received lots of positive feedback on the storyline.
She told DIVA magazine: "Michelle told me the other that somebody had written to her to say, \'Thank you, you\'ve given me the courage to come out to my parents.\'
"I found it quite moving. Well, it\'s on in the living room, and I guess if you\'re watching it, there\'s almost fight or flight moment maybe. You never know, it could be straight after the programme."
Emma also believes that TV viewers are keen to see Vanessa and Emma\'s relationship work out.
She said: "In soap there\'s always going to be drama, isn\'t there? So, the more drama attached to a couple, there more interesting it\'s going to be to watch.
"But at the same time, it is often nice to see things coming to fruition in a good way, not always a negative way. So I think people are buzzing genuinely from the fact that they make each other laugh and they get on."
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