She’s a family woman in Emmerdale but off-screen, Natalie J Robb enjoys her single life and admits a childhood experience was enough to convince her to never tie the knot.

Natalie J Robb is a happily single woman

Natalie J Robb enjoys her singledom, but she admits she’s never married or had children for several reasons – one of which is linked to a childhood memory.

“I don’t have any children,” she says. “Apart from furry animals.” The Emmerdale icon recently adopted Buddy, her new pup, after losing her beloved dog Bronson.

“Last year in February, I lost Bronson, my best friend. Never felt grief like it, it doesn’t go away,” she says. “Now Buddy won’t stop growing. I just love the companionship of an animal.”

And she has no regrets about not settling down. “I’ve never been one for marriage. My mum got divorced when I was very young. I think my world shattered when that happened,” she says.

“But I don’t believe people need marriage anymore. A lot of them have children – that’s a marriage in itself.” She adds: “I’m 50 now, I spent a lot of time trying to find love but it wasn’t the right thing for me. I should have just been more single then, rather than find something.”

On-screen, Moira survived a brain tumour, kept Cain steady through the heartbreak of Nate’s death, and somehow held her family together.

But Emmerdale ’s Moira Dingle is about to face even more drama. “It’s all kicking off,” says Natalie, who plays the farmer. “She’s still in recovery, her tumour was only diagnosed last year.”

Moira Dingle is a family woman, fierce and protective over her children and husband – but Natalie J Robb’s off-screen life couldn’t be more different(Image: ITV)

Moira has stood strong for hubby Cain, who’s still reeling after the discovery of Nate’s body in a lake. “She knows what it’s like to lose a child, so she knows the pain he’s feeling,” Natalie says, referring to the 2016 drugs death of Moira’s daughter Holly. “But there’s just so many different emotions going on.”

Guilt is one of them. Before Nate’s death, he was beaten by Cain – fuelled by a rumour that Moira tried to kiss him. Believing Nate and Moira’s old affair had sparked again, Cain lashed out. “That fight they had,” Natalie says, “Moira believes she caused it.”

Now, the family’s about to be dealt another blow. Joe Tate’s gunning for Moira’s land, hoping to hand it over to Kim Tate, his step-grandmother.

“Moira can be a bit crazy, fierce and protective,” says Natalie. “But she’s a fair woman when it comes to farming and her business. What they’re trying to do to her is awful, it’s really bad. Her hands are tied.”

Butler’s Farm is already struggling but losing it would leave Moira and Cain homeless. “The outcome is going to be much worse,” Natalie says.

“Ultimately, she thinks they’re going to have to sell. But Joe tells her fibs about her being a tenant farmer. She’s going to try and do everything to save it. But working with Joe? He gets right under Moira’s skin.”

As pressure mounts, Cain also locks horns with his brother Sam – who works for Kim and is friends with her through wife Lydia. Things boil over when two intruders are found hiding in Moira’s barn.

Cain blames Joe, and tensions erupt. “I go to punch Joe Tate, but as I do that, I punch Lydia in the ear,” Natalie says. “It’s very convoluted but it creates a big rift between Sam and Cain.”

Last year, Moira was diagnosed with a brain tumour and the ordeal caused tension within her marriage – now her and hubby Cain are facing homelessness(Image: ITV)

Luckily, the off-screen atmosphere is far calmer. Natalie and Jeff Hordley (Cain) have been filming together for over a decade. “We can work together with our eyes shut,” she says.

“We have a nice friendship and a good working relationship. But it was also nice to work with Ned Porteous, who plays Joe, and do things with Home Farm. It’s been talked about for a while, they’ve always wanted this land. They want the land for access, they don’t care about the farm.”

For Natalie, the storyline hits close to home. “I’ve got some farmer friends, they said that is the way it’s going a lot of the time. They’re making a lot of tenant farmers so they work their land,” she says.

“But they don’t have the same responsibility. It’s not theirs anymore, which is really sad. Farmers are a different breed, they have a different mindset and they don’t have time to mess around. They’re survivors. Even Jeremy Clarkson realises now how hard it is.”

Fans often tell Natalie they wish they had Moira’s fire – and in some ways, Natalie gets it. Raised just outside Glasgow, she was a tomboy in a farming community. “There were more boys than there were girls. I didn’t get on with girls,” she admits, “I was into playing football.”

But life was tough early on – Natalie was picked on by other girls and sometimes, it was brutal. “I was walking home from school one night,” she says.

“I had a bit of a black eye, my lip was bleeding. My mum said, ‘Come with me.’ She dragged me to one of the girls’ house and said, ‘You’re going to fight her one to one.’”

The fight was stopped before it escalated but the lesson stuck. “I was terribly shy and quite sensitive,” she says, “But I’ve definitely changed. Maybe Moira has helped.”

Even after 16 years, Emmerdale still has Natalie’s heart. “I live in the present but you never know what’s going to come up,” she says, “The Emmerdale pace is fast and no day is the same. I absolutely thrive on that. I’m very lucky.”