Emmerdale’s Natalie Robb reveals that she once had to live in her car as a struggling young actress

SHE’S a glamorous soap star whose performances have garnered award nominations and rave reviews.

However, Emmerdale’s Natalie Robb has revealed that life as a struggling young actress was once so tough that she ended up sleeping in a car.

The 42-year-old, who plays Moira Barton in the soap, moved to London from Scotland as a young actress in search of her big break.

But the sky-high cost of living in the capital left her virtually penniless and reduced to living in a motor.

Her revelation comes just days after she arrived in a chauffeur-driven limo at the National Television Awards – proving just how far she’s come.

Reliving her hard-up days as a 21-year-old in London, Natalie said: “I didn’t have the money to set up properly.

“I was OK, but I lived in my car for a couple of weeks when I first came down.

“I was due to stay with my cousin but he had another lodger meaning I couldn’t stay straight away so I just slept in my car.

“I didn’t mind – I just thought it was all part of the experience.”

Natalie said she found it “scary” moving to the capital on her own but that she was driven by a “burning desire” to succeed.

The Bellshill-born actress said: “I looked up to the sky to ask the universe and thought I’m going to do this and follow this dream and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work but, back me up, will you?

“When you’re young you don’t really care. You have that lovely no-fear factor.

“I think fear can hold a lot of people back.”

Being nominated for Best Serial Drama Performance at the National TV Awards is testament to how much Natalie’s pluck and sense of daring has paid off.

She modestly admits she was surprised at making the shortlist for her role as farmer’s wife Moira, who was left distraught after her daughter Holly passed away from a drug overdose.

Natalie said: “My big storyline with the shock death of Holly was just at the time voting opened.

“We had kept her death a secret so the audience had a true sense of shock just like Moira would have had. So they were on Moira’s side throughout her journey.”

Natalie’s first appearance on telly was filming documentary drama Dreams And Recollections with Tom Conte at the tender age of nine.

She then had a leading role in Scottish soap Take The High Road, where she starred as Trish McDonald, as well as appearances in long-running crime series Taggart.