Emmerdale fans are completely obsessed by the newest unexpected friendship to hit the village this week.
Like all the best soap friendships, it began with a vicious fight between Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly) and Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) which led to them both being arrested.
After their initial hostility, the pair actually began to bond, especially after Ruby blurted out the truth about why she and dad Anthony Fox were estranged.
Viewers will know that Ruby was sexually abused by her father growing up, and fell pregnant with daughter Steph Miligan (Georgia Jay) as a result.
When Ruby made digs about Manpreet’s serial killer sister Meena Jutla, who terrorised the Emmerdale village by taking countless lives between 2020 and 2022, Manpreet retaliated by snapping back with comments about Ruby’s father.
After warning Manpreet several times to shut up, Ruby finally snapped, revealing the awful truth behind her cutting contact with Anthony.
Manpreet was instantly mortified and apologised to Ruby for her previous comments.
As Ruby opened up about how the abuse had shaped her life, and how she had pushed people away and steered clear of making friends because of it, Manpreet encouraged her to talk to someone.
Metro Soaps Reporter Maisie Spackman says…
It is safe to say that my favourite type of relationship to watch in soap is a close friendship, although unfortunately it sometimes feel as though these take a backseat in favour of romancing couples and feuding enemies.
Soaps are supposed to reflect real life, albeit a heightened version, and a close friendship playing out between two characters on screen is one of the best ways to portray a true sense of community, linking different families together through platonic relationships.
I absolutely love the friendship between Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) for example. Though they’re two completely different characters from different backgrounds, circumstances brought them together and we regularly see them seeking advice and support from one another.
In soap, there can be a tendency to have conversations like these among family members. The Dingles instantly spring to mind – they’re a close-knit group with a lot of different interpersonal relationships.
However, in real life most of us have a friend or two away from our relatives to vent to about said family, or other issues we need to get off our chests. I’m a true sucker for those everyday conversations in soap – whether that be Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) and Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler) gossiping in the café, or Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) and Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) sharing a joke over a pint in the Woolpack.
While it’s great to have the drama of fights and feuds and the excitement of stunts, there is a true beauty in watching two people unburden their souls to one another, like Manpreet and Ruby did in these scenes.
I really hope their friendship continues to develop. They are both complex characters who could certainly do with a friend to lean on. This budding friendship has so much potential, and could be the start of something very interesting to watch.
She revealed that she was seeing a therapist herself and could give her her number, or even be a listening ear herself.
By the time they were free to leave the station, Ruby was referring to Manpreet as her friend – something that fans loved.
‘Ruby & Manpreet. The duo we didn’t know we needed,’ Roscoe Barnes wrote on Twitter/X.
Beth had similar thoughts, writing: ‘new Manpreet/Ruby friendship – here for it…’
Posting a clip from the episode in which Manpreet told Ruby she understood her struggle with making friends, Lucy wrote: ‘this friendship is EVERYTHING.’
‘I’m here for the Ruby and Manpreet friendship.’ Dr Louise agreed.
Could this be the start of a blossoming friendship between Ruby and Manpreet, or will they forget about each other the moment they step back in the village?
