Who is Emma Ishta, the Aussie actress who plays Kayleigh, Adam’s girlfriend in The Summer I Turned Pretty?

Sep 3 , 2025

Emma Ishta plays Kayleigh in Amazon Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty. Photos: @emmaishta/Instagram, Prime Video

Ishta – who previously played Kirsten in Stitchers with Logan Paul – joins the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s hit show, so what is she like IRL?

Amazon Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty’s third and final season introduced viewers to a few new faces – including Kayleigh, who is asked to help Jeremiah and Belly plan their wedding. Not long after, it’s confirmed that she’s Adam Fisher’s secretary.

But why all the attention? Kayleigh was briefly mentioned in the previous season as the woman Adam had an affair with, thus betraying his wife Susannah Fisher (played by Rachel Blanchard) during her battle with cancer. Her appearance adds another layer of tension in the characters’ lives, particularly as Jeremiah seems unaware of her history with his father.

The character is played by 34-year-old Australian actress, Emma Ishta.

Emma Ishta appeared for the first time in episode four of The Summer I Turned Pretty as Kayleigh. Photo: @primevideo/Instagram

With only a few episodes left, Kayleigh’s presence may stir up even more family drama for the Fishers.

Here’s what you should know about the actress behind the role.

What else has Emma Ishta been in?

Emma Ishta played Kirsten Clark in three seasons of Freeform’s science fiction series Stitchers. Photo: @emmaishta/Instagram

Ishta had her first acting role in 2014, playing Cara in Black Box. A year later, she took on a leading role in the sci-fi series Stitchers, portraying Kirsten Clark, a university student recruited by a government programme to enter the minds of crime victims to help solve cases. Over the show’s three-season run, Ishta brought depth to Kirsten’s evolution alongside co-stars Kyle Harris, Damon Dayoub and Logan Paul.

Emma Ishta played Phoebe in Gimme a Break, a series with four episodes that aired in 2022. Photo: @emmaishta/Instagram

After the success of Stitchers, the actress appeared in a range of different projects, including the short film Shadow Puppet (2019) and the TV series Gimme a Break (2022). Looking ahead, she is set to appear in Lore Harbour, a film directed by David H. Venghaus Jr, who has worked on hits like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and Forrest Gump.

She’s a model and trained vocalist

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Who is Emma Ishta, the Aussie actress who plays Kayleigh, Adam’s girlfriend in The Summer I Turned Pretty?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ishta – who previously played Kirsten in Stitchers with Logan Paul – joins the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s hit show, so what is she like IRL?

What else has Emma Ishta been in?

She’s a model and trained vocalist

Ishta – who previously played Kirsten in Stitchers with Logan Paul – joins the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s hit show, so what is she like IRL?