It’s been a dramatic start to 2026 in Emmerdale for Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry).
The feisty ‘Dales vet was devastated to discover that her stepdaughter April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) had been groomed into drug trafficking and sex work by ruthless criminal Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) and his insidious mother Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths).
Rhona’s been a rock for her husband Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), who’s been bereft to think that he’s failed his daughter. Together they confronted Ray and Celia, who cruelly extorted two thousand pounds a week from the desperate parents in return for leaving their daughter alone.
When Ray defied Celia’s orders to kill April during a crisis of conscience and handed the vulnerable teen a wad of cash to flee the village, Rhona and Marlon were sick with worry over her disappearance and were determined to track her down.
Fans were hoping that Rhona would join forced with her husband’s formidable cousin, the hardest bloke this side of Hotten – Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) – to take Ray and Celia down.
However, that epic team up was not to be, and it’s fair to say that Zoe Henry wasn’t too downhearted about missing the opportunity to a share the screen with Cain Dingle’s actor Jeff Hordley…mostly because they’re married!
Zoe explains how she felt about the missed opportunity for an onscreen partnership with her husband, and the actress isn’t too disappointed.
‘Professionally disappointed, personally thrilled’. She admitted: ‘I don’t want to work with Jeff and he doesn’t want to work with me, but I also think my husband is a brilliant actor. I’m always keen to work with people that are brilliant and he is so it’s a double edged sword, I suppose.’
But poor Rhona will need all the help she can get in an upcoming week of special episodes, where Emmerdale rewinds time all the way back to Ray’s last day alive, the day he killed Celia. Three episodes will focus on the perspective of the three main suspects for Ray’s murder; Rhona, Marlon, and Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy).
In, Rhona’s episode, she sits at home alone despair over April’s disappearance. Suddenly, a shadowy figure looms behind her…
Teasing a confrontation with the man who’s been grooming her step-daughter, Zoe gives us a glimpse of what’s to come as Ray cruelly drags up a name from her past – her physically and sexually abusive husband, Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather).
‘Well it was particularly dark when he mentioned Pierce. Yeah, I mean, that’s her Achilles heel anyway.
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‘Ray knew what he was doing, bringing that in. It just derails her any time his name is mentioned. This period in her life is just constant abject fear and panic. Having witnessed what Ray did to Dylan on the phone when we were in the room with Celia.
‘They’re just like rabbits in the headlights. They think they’re at constant risk and therefore are in absolute fear and panic constantly.’
It’s fair to say our Rhona’s been through a lot – and she’s capable of fighting her corner when pushed to breaking point. Viewers will remember how she famously tricked her unhinged ex-husband Pierce into confessing to the murder of her then-boyfriend Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) – who just turned up alive and kicking in Corriedale, but that’s another story.
But is she capable of murdering Ray? Zoe Henry thinks so.
‘Yeah, I think she could be motivated because how long are they prepared to let this go on for? I think it’s that moment of desperation that there is no way out. And so, if I die or I sacrifice myself in the process of freeing my family, particularly my children, then maybe I’ll do it.
‘And I think that’s what’s in Rhona’s mind. He is ruthless and relentless, and he will stop at nothing. And Rhona knows that. So she’s all in. She’s got to be otherwise, where will they be left?’
But Rhona’s not the only suspect. Marlon would go to the ends of the earth to protect April – and that just might include murder. How would Rhona feel if the man she loved had blood on his hands?
‘I think she would fully understand why he’d done it, I think she would be devastated to know. I mean, murder is murder, whoever’s done it and they will go away for a very long time.
‘So, you’d be staring down the barrel of being a single parent and being without your soul mate. I don’t know whether she would forgive him? I’m not sure. I think she would certainly understand it, but whether she’d forgive him is a different matter.’
After inflicting pain and misery on the Dales with their inhumane criminal activies, Celia and Ray have finally received soap justice. But while Ray and Celia may be rotten to the core, actors Joe Absolom and Jaye Griffiths are lovely – and Zoe Henry confirms how great it’s been working with them.
‘Oh, it’s a joy. And one of the biggest joys of this story is the appearance of Jaye Griffiths and Joe Absolom, who are both exceptional actors, so much fun to be with and so much fun to work on set with.
‘In a way, I wish the story had been longer because they’ve just been absolutely joyful creatures to work with, they really have.’
