Emily Atack says she has been sexually assaulted on TV sets throughout her career

Emily Atack says she has been sexually assaulted on TV sets throughout her career.

The 35-year-old star has revealed that she is keen to make a documentary on intimacy coordinators after her experience with them on the Disney+ series Rivals and feels that they have brought about a welcome "shift" in conduct behind-the-scenes in projects.

Emily – who fronted the 2023 BBC documentary Emily Atack: Asking for It? on the subject of online sexual harassment – told the Radio Times magazine: "I want to do one on intimacy coordinators, and I'm going to start having conversations about it soon.

"I've seen people roll their eyes about them and say, 'I don't need one.' There's a defensiveness about it, because they feel like they're being accused of something they haven't even done yet. Intimacy coordinators are there for support if you feel uncomfortable, whether you're a man or a woman."

The Inbetweeners actress continued: "I've been sexually assaulted at work throughout my career, where it's on the actual set, or at a wrap party – and since the #MeToo movement, it shows that people are listening and that there has to be a shift in behaviour on sets."

Emily revealed that she is very "proud" of the Rivals cast and crew for the way intimate scenes were handled in the adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper's novel of the same name, which was well-received when it aired last year.

She said: "I'm really proud of the Rivals gang because, throughout my life, I haven't felt safe all the time, and we're all so respectful of each other. We have to do a lot of sexual scenes and we're very looked after. It's a really positive thing."

Atack stars in the new Channel 5 drama The Rumour – which centres on a convicted child killer who is believed to be living in a small town – and reveals that playing a mother in the show was particularly personal as she had not long given birth to her son Barney, 14 months, who she has with her fiance Alistair Garner.

She recalled: "I'd given birth 10 weeks before filming, so I was exhausted, emotional and still in agony from my caesarean, but it was really about getting back on the horse.

"Before, I'd be like, 'How do I play a mum? How do I make it look believable that I love this child?'

"In The Rumour, my fake son Liam was so sweet. I did even the tiny things, like getting him off to school, putting his bag on and adjusting his coat, with heartfelt emotion, because they really mean something now I have my own son."