Emmerdale star kept reassuring item in her bra to cope with horrific rape scenes – Daily Star

Emmerdale actress Karen Blick has revealed that she kept a special “healing” item in her bra during her horrific rape scenes.

Fans of the ITV soap were horrified as they watched Blick’s character Lydia Dingle being raped by ex-boyfriend Craig on the soap this week.

Karen, who joined the soap in 2016, said she prepared as much as she could to deal with the harrowing storyline.

READ MORE: Emmerdale’s Lydia baby bombshell ‘sealed’ as fans work out twist after rape ordeal

To help calm herself down after filming the horrific scenes, Karen admitted she was carrying healing crystals in her bra as a way to separate herself from her character.

She told the Mirror: “A friend is a crystal healing therapist. She said she could help me protect my energy. I’m really open-minded, so I thought ‘why not?’” she quipped.

“She gave me a healing session then gave me three crystals – one to put in my bra when I do scenes and two to put in Lydia’s shoes when I’m not filming.”

Karen herself also spoke to some survivors of sexual abuse and rape to get a better sense of the feeling.

She explained that she was given a Carnelian stone, dubbed the ‘actor’s crystal’, as it meant to be good for confidence and putting boundaries in place.

Lydia’s past came back to bite her when, at a recruitment fair, she ran into her ex-boyfriend Craig, who had not seen her since they lived together in a children’s home.

Lydia confessed to Craig, played by Ben Addis, that she had left the home as she was carrying his son, Toby – who later was stillborn.

Having offered Lydia a job, the mood shifted between the pair and after refusing to give him a kiss, Lydia was held down and raped by her new boss, leaving viewers horrified.

Karen also said of the shoot: “Craig becomes really upset and they sit and talk, because she feels sorry for him. He goes in for a kiss and she tells him no, but he’s very insistent and he then forces himself on her and rapes her.

“It’s the end of the working day and he knows everybody else has left. Lydia freezes and that’s something that gives her a lot of guilt afterwards. But it’s a defence mechanism – she’s terrified.”

Bosses at the ITV soap put her in touch with charity Rape Crisis to make sure the plot was shown sensitively, but in a way that is accurate.

But Blick admitted she was in shock when she heard what producers had in store for Lydia.

She had initially asked writers not to go forward with the storyline, adding: “I felt really protective of her and worried about the responsibility of telling that story”.

However, after an emotionally taxing few days, Karen said she feels proud to be able to share the harrowing story so many people go through.

For more of the latest showbiz and TV news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.