DISAPPOINTED Emmerdale fans branded an exit ‘pathetic' and said ‘she deserved better' as a cast member bowed out.
Former actress the ITV soap last year, playing Ella Forster.
Viewers watched on Thursday (April 3) as the character's time in the Dales seemingly came to an end.
During her storyline, it was revealed best friend Joanne when she was a child.
Flying Ezeafter her stint as Ella fell rather flat with very little fanfare.
Paulafirst appeared to confirm she had quitthe show when she updated her professional Spotlight account to confirm she would cease filming on the soapoperain February 2025 after 16 months in the role.
In Thursday's (April 3) episode, Ella pleaded with Liam to believe that she did not drug Chas.
He lead her to believe they might have a chance of getting back together, if she actually confessed to it.
But when she realised Liam had manipulated her and the police were on the way, Ella made a dash into the woods to try and escape.
As Liam followed, they ended up in a scuffle where Ella pushed him and he fell back, hitting his head on a rock.
Ella feared she'd killed him, having previously accidentally killed Joanne in the same way.
Fortunately, the village doctor was fine and offered her some words of wisdom.
He said: “You can't keep lying to yourself. You need help. I know there's good in you, I've seen it.
“Maybe with the rehabilitation, you can find it again.”
Ella was concerned she'd be locked up by the police and said her life was “as good as over.”
Liam continued: “What life? Look at you. You can't keep carrying on like this.
“Hurting people, destroying people's lives. You can't keep running away from yourself.
“New name, new address. You're still the same person inside.”
This appeared to spark something in Ella, who said: “Ruth. That's who I am. I can't escape her, can I? She'll always be there. She's in my DNA.
“I tried to be different. Ella was a mask, that's all. Someone I pretended to be.”
As Ella broke down in tears, Liam watched on as she was led away by police.
Reacting to the scenes, one fan wrote: “That was a really pathetic exit for Ella has so much potential to be a great addition to the village and the writers ruined it with a pathetic love triangle between Liam & Chas!!!
“Paula Lane is a fantastic actor she deserved better than that!”
They added: “There was so much potential for Ella as a character as well! Awful writing.”
Another penned: “Ella’s exit has p**** me the f**k off cuz the whole story was that she wanted to change her life around after committing a crime as a child and now they have gone full circle and said actually criminals can’t change their lives around what a waste.”
A third chimed in: “if this is ella's exit storyline”, sharing a screengrab of Judge Judy saying “Who cares?”
Emmerdale continues on ITV1 and .
