Emmerdale’s Ryan Hawley has dropped a very small hint about the upcoming Coronation Street and Emmerdale crossover, and what’s ahead for his character.
Back in May, it was confirmed that both ITV soaps will join forces in a one-off special edition that marks a new broadcast pattern, launching in 2026.
It was announced earlier this year that both serial dramas will air in what has been dubbed as a ‘power hour’ from 8pm, Monday to Friday. Ultimately it means that both shows will lose a half an hour episode per week.
This event is the first time that soap worlds have collided in an official capacity – though we have seen small crossovers for Children in Need and to highlight climate change in the past.
Producers have confirmed that the episode will be marked in ‘spectacular style’, with production teams from Leeds and Trafford working together to achieve an ‘ambitious stunt’ that will have ‘everlasting consequences’ for the communities of Weatherfield and Emmerdale.
An ‘ingenious’ way of merging the two has been devised by those behind the scenes, although it’s understood that the characters will then return to their respective environments after the ep.
Forever linked together, familiar faces will depart while some fresh new faces will arrive in both soaps.
The high-stakes drama will subsequently have huge repercussions for everyone involved in the time following.
Recently, writer and This Morning’s soap guru Sharon Marshall was on location for Emmerdale filming, which saw Ryan Hawley, Oliver Farnworth and Danny Miller film the scenes you saw in yesterday’s episode.
Sharon was able to interview the trio about the storyline and the major moments, which saw Danny’s character Aaron Dingle discover the truth about Oliver’s soap alter-ego John Sugden.
During her chat with Ryan Hawley who plays Robert Sugden, the star spoke about how the instalment last night marked a turning point for the storyline.
‘When one storyline or period of that storyline comes to an end, this kicks off the new one and then where we’re going towards the Coronation Street and Emmerdale crossover it’s going to be…yeah.’
Intriguing!
Just before the credits rolled, John threw himself and Aaron from a gorge. Moments prior to this, John called the police, claiming that his husband’s ex had turned up and was threatening to kill them.
This means that when the aftermath plays out, Robert will be questioned by the police.
And according to Ryan, his character’s future is certainly at risk. He told Sharon that ‘it’s not great for Robert’ and that there is a chance ‘Robert might leave’.
We hope not!
Robert Sugden returned to the village earlier this year to try and stop Aaron from marrying John. His bail conditions were broken as a result of this though, which meant he was quickly sent back inside.
Robert did his time once again and was then permanently released from prison. He returned to the village, and decided to try and prove to everyone that his distant brother was bad news.
Due to the fact John has done such a good job at convincing the residents that he’s a local hero, no-one really believed Robert. They accused him of being jealous of Aaron’s new relationship and urged him to move on.
Trying to move forward for Robert featured him teaming up with Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) and Butlers Farm. He really enjoyed discussing future plans for their farmland, and appreciated it was a good way of focusing on something other than reuniting with Aaron.
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This all changed for Robert last week, when Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) relayed his concerns about John.
Paddy made it clear to Robert that John probably wasn’t going to hurt Aaron, but all he could think about was that his soulmate was trapped in a cottage in the middle of nowhere.
Robert got the address of the house from Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) and raced over there.
As it stands, due to the phone call John made last minute, all eyes are going to be on Robert in the aftermath of this showdown.
But will he get sent back to prison?
