COLD Feet's Fay Ripley has admitted Jenny Gifford's breast cancer scare in series eight has been a "weight of responsibility".

The hit ITV comedy-drama returns in the New Year but there's a shock in store for Jenny in episode one when she finds a lump in her breast.

Speaking to The Sun Online about the storyline, Fay said: "They said how would you feel about it as a storyline and I said, which I said all along, I want it dealt with properly.

"Because of the weight of that responsibility and because so many people are affected by breast cancer and cancer in general.

"It’s something we all know about as sadly that is life at this moment, so I just wanted to do it right."

However the viewers aren't the only ones who will have to wait and see how the storyline pans out, as Fay doesn't know how it will conclude either.

She added: "I don’t know how it’s going to pan out long term actually.

"What I hope to have achieved is something that one can relate to. I was really pushing them to slightly surprise the audience with this storyline in the sense that, we’ve seen this storyline before in other shows, but I just really, really wanted it to be real.

"So that sometimes it was going to be funny, sometimes it was going to be scary and sometimes it was going to be just honest.

"Hopefully that’s been achieved; you can’t do more than that really."

Jenny keeps her visit to the doctor from husband Pete (Jon Thomson) and their friends, which Fay thinks was an important element of the storyline to portray.

She continued: "This character doesn’t tell anybody and I think that’s where you go ‘Oh I haven’t seen that reaction before, and I recognise that, and I know that’s why she’s doing that’.

"She’s flawed, it’s maybe not the kindest thing for her husband but she’s struggling.