She had a short-lived marriage to an obnoxious, embittered man, and an affair with a farmer old enough to be her dad, before falling for a deranged control freak who pushed her to her death at a Yorkshire beauty spot. It's a good job actress Glenda McKay's life doesn't imitate her art. Helen Mead spoke to the former Emmerdale star about her 11 years in the popular soap and her latest venture.

GLENDA MCKAY was just 17 when she landed a plum role in the television series Emmerdale Farm.

She heard the producers were looking for a young boy, and thought she'd write in on the off-chance that they might need a girl as well.

"I wrote in on spec and luckily they did need someone - when I got the part of Rachel Hughes I was amazed, it was a brilliant feeling."

Using her initiative and writing in paid off, and she is keen to stress that people should never be afraid of going after what they want. "You make your own luck in life," she says, "You've nothing to lose by going for what you want."

Living with her parents and brother Craig at the family home in Guiseley, Glenda was still studying A-levels at Park Lane College, Leeds with Gaynor Faye, who played Judy Mallett in Coronation Street. "I thought I would finish them later if the job did not last," she says, having no idea that she would still be turning up for work on the set after more than a decade.

Glenda's parents, who worked in finance and banking, were thrilled when she landed the job, and it became a family affair when both she and Craig played brother and sister. "It was great, we always helped each other - we get on really, really well," says Glenda. Craig's character Mark was killed off in one of the soap's biggest storylines, the plane crash just outside the fictitious village which killed a number of leading characters.

It was about this time that the soap, now called simply Emmerdale, changed and far less emphasis was given to its farming roots, something Glenda missed from her first few years in the programme.

"I loved it in the early years, with the lambs in spring and being with the livestock. I enjoyed the farming element and learned a reasonable amount about farming. But the series had to evolve."

She describes as "fantastic" the new purpose-built village at Harewood House near Leeds, which took the filming away from Esholt, near Bradford. "It allows the filming to be done at a fast pace."

She says that acting out her final scenes with screen husband Graham helped to release the outpouring of emotion that would have welled up as she left the set for the last time.

"It was cathartic. When I drove away the last time I didn't feel anything. I'd almost got rid of it all, done all the crying."

And, although she had a lot of affection for her screen character, at the end she was glad to be free of her. "I didn't like Rachel at the end. She had lost it completely. She certainly didn't have very good taste in red wigs."

Since her departure last year, the scenes of which pulled in record viewers, Glenda has barely had time to draw breath. On screen Rachel taught aerobics, but what few of her fans realise is that Glenda - who recently celebrated her 29th birthday - is a YMCA-qualified aerobics teacher. She also holds the female "Three Mountains Challenge" record for the ascent and descent of the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales, and has run marathons at home and abroad. She was the fifth British woman past the finishing line in last November's New York marathon, coming 131st out of 12,500 runners.

She described health and fitness as her "second career" and has already gone a long way to establish herself as something of a guru in the business. She has launched a best-selling video, "Fit, Fresh and Funky," in which she showed how exercise could be fun rather than a chore, she presents her own weekly, half-hour live fitness show on Granada Shop, a cable and satellite shopping channel, and has done a week's fitness presenting on GMTV.

Now Glenda is sharing her recipe for healthy living in her book The Best of Health.

She trained in aerobics with Menston-based Northern Fitness in Education, and has turned what started as her hobby into her job. "I did the same with acting - if you are lucky enough to be able to do it, it makes the job fun."

Glenda, who is single, loves clubbing in Leeds and can regularly be spotted enjoying herself at the Comedy Club and The Warehouse. She visits Bradford occasionally "for the odd curry."

Her spare time is also taken up decorating her modern three-bedroom detached home in North Leeds. "I'm doing it up, painting the spare bedroom purple - I'm a bit wild."

She says she misses her Emmerdale friends "To an extent I feel that I've left a family behind. I miss all the crew and the actors, but I'm not one of those people who tend to look back."

And, despite enjoying her second career, she has no plans to give up acting, and would like to go back into television. "I really want to progress and do guest roles on Casualty and Heartbeat. I'm open to offers."

The Best of Health by Glenda McKay is published by Granada Media priced £9.99. To order a copy ring Harper Collins on 0870 9002050 and quote ISBN number 0-233-99733-4

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.