Leanna Cavanagh is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Mimi Slinger.

Slinger announced her decision to leave to the production team in 2020 and was informed that her character would die, which she was shocked but excited for.

Upon leaving, Slinger said that she was missing Emmerdale and her co-stars, but explained that it felt like the right time to pursue other opportunities in her career.

[1] In 2018, it was announced by the agents of Jonny McPherson that his character, Liam Cavanagh, had been promoted to a series regular on Emmerdale.

As part of the decision to promote him, it was confirmed that viewers would find out more about his life, with the producers having "bigger plans for him in the months ahead".

[2] In an interview with Susannah Alexander of Digital Spy, Slinger stated that the "proudest moment" of her life was the day that her mother called her to inform her that she had landed the role of Leanna.

[3] Slinger explained that Leanna has a "hard exterior" due to events in her backstory, which causes her to be too harsh to people and not regard their feelings.

[3] A year later, Slinger compared the attributes that she shares with Leanna, explaining that they both value the people they love, they are both sensitive and that they both enjoy taking risks.

[4] Shortly after her introduction, Leanna is "quick to find romance" when she is partnered with classmate Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) for a school project.

[5] After Jacob hears Leanna making spiteful comments, he decides to stop talking to her, with Metro stating that he "has understandably been put off".

[10] In 2021, Emmerdale producers announced that the year would see an increased focus on the younger cast members and characters.

It was confirmed that with Jacob having moved abroad and her friendship with Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) "in chaos", Leanna would be lonely.

[14] Noah confesses to the police, but as Leanna is "desperate to save her own skin", she denies everything, claiming Amelia is responsible.

[18] She becomes determined to ensure that Gabby faces consequences for her actions against Liam, and asks Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) to join in, who declines.

[25] Leanna tricks Bernice into wearing an "awful ball gown" to the Woolpack, humiliating her in front of Liam and other villagers.

[27] She "spitefully" encourages her to use the Botox, but after Bernice has an anaphylactic shock due to being severely allergic to the ingredients, Leanna shows "genuine remorse".

Giles added that there is potential for Bernice to be a good stepmother to her, but only if Leanna's "fractious" relationship with her daughter Gabby improves.

[29] Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy wrote that Leanna is stubbornly refusing to accept their relationship "partly because she feels left out".

Slinger disagreed with her character's actions, opining that although Leanna wants Liam to be happy, she is seeming to "destroy any hope of that".

[30] Slinger stated that due to her troublemaking nature, "all eyes are on Leanna",[3] but Kilkelly suspected that she would not be responsible for the crime.

[3] On 28 June 2021, it was confirmed by Emmerdale that villain Meena Jutla (Paige Sandhu) would murder a character in forthcoming scenes.

That same day, a trailer involving Meena, Leanna, Jacob, Gabby, David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) and Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) premiered on ITV, with media outlets confirming that the latter five would be the potential victims of her murder.

[36] Slinger found filming her final scenes on Emmerdale emotional, particularly with McPherson, with whom she said that she shared "lots of tears" with.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television, cast and crew members on Emmerdale were not allowed within 6 feet of each other at the time of filming.

After filming had wrapped, director Paul Copeland made a speech and Slinger was given gifts by the production team.

Reflecting on her experience on Emmerdale, Slinger stated that the time had "flown by" but that she was glad to have learned from her fellow cast members, directors and producers.

She accredited McPherson and Shahidi with teaching her a lot about acting and mentioned Campbell and Bentham, with whom she formed friendships with.

[37] In scenes aired in June 2018, viewers "slammed" Leanna for her actions after she demands a reward for information about Amelia's disappearance.

[5] Digital Spy wrote that Leanna's "harsh comments and diva attitude" had been the focus of viewership in 2018, and that her actions have "hardly in the good graces of viewers".