Emmerdale star James Hooton has responded to his co-star’s exit for the first time. 

The actor, who is famed for playing Sam Dingle in the ITV soap, said that ‘selfishly’ he wanted Sam Hall to stay in the Dales.

During Tuesday night’s (August 6) Emmerdale, Samson Dingle was told his fate after he was arrested for attacking former friend Josh Cope. 

The teen was already facing time behind bars after he confessed that Matty Barton was actually telling the truth about the stabbing which happened earlier this year.

Facing prosecution for lying to the police, Samson was preparing for life behind bars. 

However, an encounter with Josh, who refused to tell the truth about his role in the stabbing that initially saw Matty imprisoned, led to Samson seeing red and attacking him.

Following confirmation he was sentenced to four years behind bars, there was an emotional scene where the Sam and Samson said they loved each other and Sam broke down as Samson was led off to serve his sentence.

After the episode, Emmerdale shared a goodbye message from Sam, who took over the role of Sam Dingle’s son in 2009 after three child actors had previously played the part.

“So, as you’ve seen, Samson has now left the village. t’s been a great storyline, so I’d like to thank everyone who’s been with me, cast and crew, over the last 15 years,” he said. Sam then hinted at a possible return, teasing: “Hopefully, we’ll see Samson again.”

James, who has starred as Sam in the long-running soap for almost 30 years, has since reshared the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said: “It has been such a pleasure to work with Sam Hall these last 15 years! A wonderful actor with a bright future ahead. Selfishly, I hope he comes back to the show one day but whatever he does in the meantime, he’ll be fantastic!”

And Jame’s fans and followers flooded the post with messages about Sam’s exit. @MandyC_90 said: “Sorry to see him go amazing at what he does. Good luck for the future Sam.” @GriffithsGail wrote: “Gutted he’s gone. What a brilliant and beautiful young man to watch. Good luck with his future.” @teamdaryldixon8 added: “I’ll miss Samson, such a great Actor and a lovely young man, I wish him all the best.”

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Source: New York Post