A spokesperson for the soap confirmed the news.

Emmerdale's Shila Iqbal has reportedly been fired from the soap after some "historic social media posts" resurfaced. The actress played Aiesha Ricahrds on the soap. A spokesperson for the soap confirmed the 24-year-old's departure on Thursday, just weeks after she joined Emmerdale as a permanent cast member. In a statement to The Mirror, they said:

"As a consequence of historic social media posts Shila Iqbal has left her role as Aiesha Richards on Emmerdale. "The programme took the decision not to renew her contract as soon as these posts were brought to the company's attention."

The posts are said to have dated back to 2013. Ms Iqbal's Twitter account has since been deleted. She issued a public apology, saying that she was taking "full responsibility for my use of such inappropriate language." She said:

"I am terribly sorry and take full responsibility for my use of such inappropriate language. I have paid the price and can no longer continue the job I loved the most at Emmerdale. "Although I was young when I made the Tweets, it was still completely wrong of me to do so and I sincerely apologise. "The only consideration I would ask is that I have recently received hateful tweets telling me that as a Muslim my Emmerdale role means that I am ‘committing sinful acts, promoting sin and deliberately going against the Quran’. "We live in sensitive times for members of all communities and especially those in multi-racial Rochdale where I grew up. "I regret that I too have let people down by the use of such language, albeit six years ago. I, like everyone else have a responsibility about the language I have used on social media as well as in conversation."