Emmerdale has confirmed that Charity Dingle’s big secret will come out in the near future, leading to a huge fallout in the village. With the bombshell having ramifications in several places, will she be shunned by her family?
Charity agreed to be a surrogate for Sarah and Jacob Sugden and dramatically gave birth to Leyla last month. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the baby is actually Charity’s, following a one-night stand with Ross Barton.
The only two people who currently know this are Ross himself and the evil Dr Caitlin Todd, who has used the knowledge to her advantage. She blackmailed Charity into giving her a sizable sum of cash, but the feud is set to rumble on next week.
With the storyline already the source of huge drama, the bombshell secret being out in the open could have a lasting impact on the Sugdens and Dingles, and Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw discussed all in an exclusive chat with Inside Soap.
“It’s going to be huge and tear them apart,” she said. “You really feel for Sarah and Jacob, especially now Leyla has been born, as they’re just so happy as a family. It’s going to be very difficult to come back from.”
“Maybe at that point, Sarah will remember that she’s a Sugden and gravitate more towards that side of her family for a little while,” added the producer, who also confirmed that Charity and Mackenzie’s marriage would be tested.
“They’ve been through so much. We know the audience love them as a couple, so I really hope they can find a way through it,” said Shaw, who joined the ITV soap as a producer in 2018.
Of course, with everything going on, there remains an – admittedly small – possibility that the connection between Charity and Ross could be explored in the future, but Shaw said that Charity and Mack’s bond will be at the forefront of the drama.
“The idea of Charity and Ross getting together has been talked about a lot, but we’ve never actually seen them as a couple. While Ross is always going to play a part in everything, Mack and Charity are the big love story for me,” she explained.
