Emmerdale’s Charley Webb Opens Up About ADHD, Autism, and Why She’s Never Going Back to the Dales
She played Debbie Dingle for two decades. Now she's finally talking about the diagnosis that explains everything.
ITV
Charley Webb has left Emmerdale behind — and she’s more self-aware than ever about why.
In a candid appearance on the Live, Laugh, Luke podcast, the actress best known as Debbie Dingle opened up about being diagnosed with both ADHD and autism, revealing how the dual diagnosis reshaped the way she understands herself — especially as a mother of three.
ITV
“Noise is my biggest trigger. I can’t bear it,” she admitted, describing the overwhelming overstimulation she feels returning home to her sons after time away. “Sometimes I forget how loud they are, and it takes me so long to readjust.”
Far from an apology, Webb frames it as liberation. Knowing why she reacts the way she does has made her a better parent — and a more honest one.
Personal Growth and Self-Understanding
ITV
Her co-parenting setup with ex-husband Matthew Webb — a week-on, week-off arrangement — raised eyebrows when it became public. Webb doesn’t care.
“At first it was really hard. But now I’m living my best life. I’m so much better when I’ve had a week off. I can be a really good mum because I’ve had a break.”
She’s equally unapologetic about her parenting style: “They don’t get fed and they don’t complain. I say, ‘Get your takeaway, order what you want, I’m out.’ It’s called character building.”
To critics on social media who think she should be more available? “I have a week off and I’m going to do what I want. If I want to go to Australia, I am going.”
As for Debbie Dingle — don’t hold your breath. Webb says there are no plans to return, citing the demands of motherhood and the sheer intensity of working on a daily soap. Debbie’s last storyline conveniently relocated her to Australia anyway, leaving the door quietly closed.
But Webb isn’t disappearing from screens. She’s set to star in Adultery, a six-part ITV drama from writer Danny Brocklehurst, alongside Dominic Cooper and Shelley Conn. The show follows two single parents whose secret affair unravels their families and lives.
“I think it’s going to be one of those things that people binge,” she teased.
On her diagnoses, Webb was thoughtful: she believes her autism traits are stronger than her ADHD, and she’s tired of people treating autism as a single, fixed experience. “Everyone has this idea of autism like it’s just one thing — and it’s really not.”
Debbie Dingle may be gone. But Charley Webb, unfiltered and unapologetic, is just getting started.
For more updates and in-depth analysis of your favorite soap operas, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation! For more Emmerdale updates, follow Newsora.
