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Filthy Rich star Emma Fenton on the biggest secret she had to keep

The actress worried she’d been stripped of her role!
Emma Fenton

When her racy character was violently hurled off a building in Filthy Rich’s season one cliffhanger, it wasn’t only fans who wanted to know if Savannah survived – actress Emma Fenton was in the dark too.

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While producers decided if the TVNZ 2 show’s scandalous stripper lived or died, the 26-year-old was confronted with the harsh reality she could be out of a job.

“It was really scary,” Emma confesses, speaking exclusively to Woman’s Day. “It’s every actor’s greatest fear that the job you are doing could be your last, but when that almost became a reality, I wasn’t prepared at all and it seemed really unfair. Losing this job would have broken my heart.

“I started second-guessing my performance. Was there something I did or didn’t do? Or something I could’ve done better? When you’ve been in a long-term role, it takes people like casting agents and directors ages to forget, so I started thinking, ‘If I can’t be on Filthy Rich, where can I work?’”

Emma plays stripper Savannah, whose life hung in the balance.

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Fortunately, Savannah made a full recovery, as Filthy fans discovered last week. Emma learnt of her sexy, sassy alter ego’s miraculous comeback a year ago, but she struggled to keep the exciting news under wraps for 12 long months.

“I cornered the writers at our wrap party last year and said, ‘No-one is leaving tonight until I find out if I live or die,’ and they just winked at me,” remembers Emma. “It was such a relief, but because Savannah’s fate was so top-secret, I had to lie about the outcome for an entire year.

“I was allowed to tell my parents and my boyfriend, and when my flatmates started to question where I was when I would go into work each day, they were also let in on the secret. The sneakiness of it all became quite fun in a really naughty way, but it really was hard keeping it from my fans.

“I’ve had one person message me on my Instagram account almost every single day. I’ve honestly never lied so much in my life. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be back from the dead!”

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The Filthy Rich cast (from left) Josh McKenzie, Alex Tarrant, Miriama Smith, Taylor Hall and Emma.

But rising from the ashes has its downsides, reveals Emma, who put herself on a strict diet ahead of filming Savannah’s “nudey rudey” scenes.

“I have always been quite confident in my body, but knowing you have to strip down for a handful of cameras is still a really nerve-wracking experience,” she confesses.

“The problem is, I’m the type of girl who just likes to eat what I want, when I want, so I’d ramp up the exercise and stick to an eating regime for all of about five days until I’d find out I had a sex scene coming up, then I’d shock my system with chicken and steamed vegetables for the week.

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“I think the caterers thought there was something wrong with me when I was offered dessert treats on set and I told them I couldn’t eat until after my scene wrapped. The things a girl’s got to do!”

While Emma loves that naughty-natured Savannah pushes her outside her comfort zone, the bubbly blonde doesn’t take her nudity on screen lightly, and says her co-stars Miriama Smith and Teuila Blakely are a great source of wisdom.

“It’s a real honour to act alongside such strong and inspirational women who are not only really fun to be around but are incredibly level-headed as well,” smiles Emma.

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“If I ever have any problems or issues, they are the first to help out because they often have experience that I’m lacking.

“Especially when it comes to playing such a sexual role, because I’m not always sure what is and isn’t acceptable, so sometimes it’s good to talk about your boundaries.”

While intimate scenes come with the territory of being an actor, Emma adores her boyfriend of three years – Ben, a lawyer who owns an Auckland electronic-cigarette store, where the couple both work – for being so accepting.

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“It’s hard when you have a partner because you don’t want to hurt them, but Ben really gets it,” says Emma. “It’s just as well because if I was in his position, I’d hate it and I’d probably

go punch the other girl in the face!”

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