Martelle Edinborough was born on 27 September 1978. She is originally from
Bradford in
West Yorkshire and later moved to Leeds. After completing her degree, she set up her own business and then went into corporate law. In 2018, Edinborough appeared in the soap opera
Coronation Street as a court clerk for four episodes. The actress called it a "funny twist of fate" that her first role on the soap was of a court clerk due to her background in law. She returned to the soap again in 2021, this time playing a police family liaison officer for four episodes. Edinborough also played mental health worker
Doctor Keely on another soap opera,
Hollyoaks, in April 2019. In 2019, she played Amina Sewak in an episode of the series
Cold Feet. On 29 March 2022, it was announced that Edinborough had been cast as regular character
Suzy Merton another soap opera
Emmerdale, with her first appearance airing the following day. Edinborough was cast by Faye Styring, the soap's casting director. Speaking about joining the soap, Edinborough explained, "My feet haven't quite touched the ground yet, I'm still on this massive cloud high up in the sky, but it's been going really, really good. It's just like a family, and it sounds so cliché but it really is and everyone is so lovely and welcoming and helps you settle in really nicely." When she found out she had been cast, she first told her oldest son, who was "ecstatic", and then her mother, who was very happy as she is a big fan of the soap. Edinborough also called reading the scripts for Suzy's character "one excitement after another". Edinborough found it "perfect" working in
Emmerdale due to it being close to Leeds, where she lives. She had previously appeared in
Emmerdale as a doctor in 2018. She had also gone to the same school as
Karen Blick (
Lydia Hart); however, they did not know each other then and they later met when they took acting classes. For her role as Suzy, Edinborough was longlisted for "Best Newcomer" at the 2022
Inside Soap Awards. Edinborough was also part of a special photoshoot for the soap's 50th anniversary, which included the eight of the newest actors to join the
Emmerdale cast. The scenes were filmed in December 2024 during the night. After the scenes aired, Edinborough confirmed her departure and said that she felt "overwhelmed" at the amount of messages she had received from fans. It was reported that viewers were saddened by the actress' departure from the soap. The actress explained that her
Emmerdale departure was a mutual decision, explaining to a viewer on
Twitter, "It was mutual in the sense that I had already decided I wanted to achieve more than what was on offer and [
Emmerdale bosses] too had to make that call. She called it a "blessing" to have been part of "such an iconic show that I grew up on" and called playing Suzy an "absolute pleasure" that she would always be grateful for. Edinborough's colleague
Michelle Hardwick,
Roxy Shahidi and
Ash Palmisciano all paid tribute to Edinborough on social media, with Hardwick joking, "I'm going to miss hearing you arrive on set saying you've lost something... Every. Single. Day." Hardwick told reporters that she felt sad during Edinborough's last days of filming. Following her departure, the gambling company
Betway gave 4/1 odds of Edinborough joining the cast of soap opera
EastEnders due to it being the only British soap opera she had not appeared in, whereas the Head of Brand Marketing at Slingo believed that the actress could join
EastEnders as a "logical first step", although he also said that she could pursue a career in drama or film and added, "No matter where she goes next, her time in
Emmerdale has paved the way for exciting opportunities, and fans will be eager to follow her journey". In 2022, Edinborough revealed that she had played the
saxophone on-off for over 20 years, and that she had gotten a tutor for it at the beginning of that year. ==Personal life==