Gemma Bissix nearly joined Emmerdale cast last year

Gemma Bissix almost joined \'Emmerdale\' - but she didn\'t want to be typecast.

The 38-year-old actress - who played Clare Devine from 2006 to 2007 before returning in 2009 and 2013 - admitted she almost joined the ITV soap, but she thought the "b****y role was too close to her most famous role.

Speaking to Digital Spy, she said: "I did it last March.

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"I remember the character was quite b****y, so I think that\'s part of the reason why [it didn\'t go further] - it would have been quite stereotypical for me to do it.

"It would have been another evil character."

Gemma would love to take on more soap roles in the future, but she admitted any potential part would have to be "really different".

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She explained: "I think I would have to do something really different. I\'d like to do something different character-wise. Because there\'s only one Clare Devine!

"I\'ve had so many people messaging me about \'Hollyoaks Favourites\' and when I see all of the comments on Instagram, it\'s nice to see that it\'s very positive.

"People loved that character. I played it, but it was all due to the writing."

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As well as \'Hollyoaks\', Gemma also appeared on \'EastEnders\' in the past, as she originally joined as Clare Tyler in 1993 when she was just nine years old.

She later returned to Albert Square in 2008 after a decade away from the BBC soap, but she recently suggested her character changed too much.

She said: "I enjoyed going back to \'EastEnders\' and had fun, but maybe the reason it didn\'t work and I didn\'t stay that long is because you can\'t be so heightened or as \'out of the box\' as a character, you have to be quite realistic."