BBC Casualty star Sammy T Dobson has confessed the tears she sheds in the finale of the current Storm Damage storyline were real as her character Nicole Piper’s emotional surrogacy storyline comes to an end. Her friend Rosie, who she was carrying the baby for, insisted she get an abortion when they learned the child had Down Syndrome.

Having refused to do that Nicole has continued with the pregnancy. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk in advance of the double episode finale which sees the baby arrive and life change forever Sammy admitted it was all very emotional as Rosie returns and now wants her child.

“When Rosie comes back and suddenly reconciles herself with the fact the baby has Down Syndrome, and because she had originally wanted Nicole to have an abortion, and now she’s here saying, ‘no, I want this baby,’ I found that so hard,” Sammy admits.

“Because I think it’s the not knowing that kills you. So when she was in this horrible limbo of thinking, ‘she’s saying she wants me to get rid of this baby, but I don’t really think she does, because I know her,’ the not knowing was the worst thing.

“So making the decision she was going to have this baby [anyway], although it was absolutely not what she planned, she was moving forward.

“You’ve made a decision, you’ve got to live with it. She’s been trying to look at all the positives and go, ‘well, actually, this won’t be so bad’.

“She’s had to talk herself into it to believe it. But also you’re having that baby, you’ve given birth, you’re seeing that baby, all of those hormones kicking in, that moment of seeing his little face and being like, ‘Oh my God. This is it. I’m a mum. This is amazing.’

For Rosie to then come back and say, ‘Actually, do you know what I will take him,’ doing those scenes was a really hard day.

She added: “It was so horrible,” admitting she might cry again.

“When she named him Nicholas…we must have filmed that scene 15 times, and every time I genuinely burst into tears, I was like, oh, it’s such a huge thing.”

Prior to the heart wrenching scenes where Nicole says goodbye to Nicholas, her birth scenes were no less dramatic. Her birth plan went out the window as she went into labour in a quiet spot in the hospital with only Tariq Hussein (Manpreet Bachu) to assist her.

With the pair of them having something of a rivalry in work, it is far from ideal. “I think when you’re in a desperate situation, you’ll take anything- which is the best outcome, someone there or no one?

“She’s relieved there’s someone there but obviously it’s far from ideal. I think he is really so wonderful in that those scenes. He really proves himself and it is such a lovely, redemptive thing for him – for him personally and for his confidence,” Sammy ponders referring to the fact Tariq’s recent fling with a patient didn’t end well.

“I think it’s so lovely and filming those scenes with Manpreeet was a joy. He was so wonderful to work with on those days.”