Emmerdale star Shila Iqbal has been fired by ITV, after a series of racist tweets she posted in 2013 resurfaced online.
The 24-year-old, who plays Aiesha Richards in the hit soap, was sacked by ITV bosses shortly after the tweets came to light.
A rep for ITV told the MailOnline: “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.”
It’s believed Shila was attending college in Rochdale at the time she posted the tweets, back when she was 18.
Apologising for her actions in a statement, Shila 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,” she added.
The news comes just one month after Shila’s role on Emmerdale was made permanent.
