Emmerdale’s Adam Fielding has said he is quitting his “stressful” role as Kirin Kotecha.

The 22-year-old actor made the decision to leave ITV’s rural soap in 2015 after talking to former producer Kate Oates, now the boss of Coronation Street.

His final day of shooting was January 13.

Adam Fielding as Kirin in Emmerdale
Adam Fielding as Kirin in Emmerdale (IITV)

Speaking at a special event for Emmerdale, he said the job is “hard on an actor”.

Viewers of the episode broadcast on Thursday saw Kirin knock down and kill Tess Harris, played by Nicola Stephenson, in a drink-drive incident.

The former Holby City actress, who joined the cast in 2015, has also departed the long-running soap set in the Yorkshire Dales.

Emmerdale actress Nicola Stephenson
Emmerdale actress Nicola Stephenson (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Adam’s exit is likely to revolve around the repercussions stemming from the fatal crash.

“Where does a human being go when he’s felt what Kirin’s felt?” the Birmingham-born actor said of the storyline.

“So all of this stuff that I’d already done in the first year – it’s stressful, really stressful.”

Adam, who joined the soap in August 2014, promised fans the relationship between Kirin and his father Rakesh Kotecha (Pasha Bocarie) would “come full circle”.

Rakesh falsified a DNA report so that it appeared Adam Barton (Adam Thomas) had fathered Vanessa Woodfield’s (Michelle Hardwick’s) baby. However, Kirin is the biological father.

“There’s more to watch and more to be excited by,” Adam said. Talking about filming the crash, he described it as “awesome”.

“I wanted to marry the stunt woman!” he joked.

In the episode, Kirin set the car he had been driving on fire, and Adam admitted he would have got even closer to the flames if he had been allowed.

“I don’t ever want a stunt double. I want to do everything myself,” he said.

Roxy Shahidi, Adam Fielding and Gemma Atkinson in Emmerdale
Roxy Shahidi, Adam Fielding and Gemma Atkinson in Emmerdale (ITV)

Adam said he owed “a lot” to Emmerdale, but did not state whether Kirin would make a return to the village in future.