Emmerdale fans slammed the ITV soap for a ‘ridiculous’ decision at Leyla Harding’s funeral as two important people in her life are set to be a no-show
On Monday (March 3), Jacob was in tears after speaking to David Metcalfe on the phone and revealed to Sarah that he wouldn’t be coming to the funeral.
He told her: “Alicia’s claiming she’s broke her leg and dad’s using Theo’s illness as an excuse”. Jacob goes on to tell Sarah that he feels he’s the only one who cared about her, Sarah then agrees to be by his side as Jacob admits he has yet to return home since Leyla died.
As Jacob goes back home, Sarah comforts him as he struggles with what to do next, as his home is filled with Leyla’s things still and he admits that his dad wants nothing to do with him.
Sarah offered Jacob a shoulder to cry on as he returned home for the first time(Image: ITV)
Leyla was one of the three confirmed deaths after the limo crash. Although medics rushed to the scene, she was pronounced dead before she made it to the hospital after being impaled with a piece of glass.
In gut-wrenching scenes, Jacob ran through the hospital while on shift to try and find his mum. He eventually found her in a private room and broke down after learning that she had already died.
While watching Monday’s episode, some fans weren’t happy with Alicia and David not showing up.
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On a Reddit thread, u/SoapFan85 wrote: “Something in particular about tonight’s episode actually made me sad after Leyla’s death. The fact that Alicia and David will not come back for the funeral leaving Jacob to mourn alone did surprise me in a way.
“I thought they would go all out for a Leyla send off and just hoped Alicia and or David would come back just for the episodes, but this doesn’t seem to be happening. I get people not wanting to come back or sometimes they’re not asked, but it just feels a bit meh given Leyla’s history with the show.”
Leyla died before she reached the hospital(Image: ITV)
u/Ok-Concept-8893 replied: “It’s ridiculous that neither Alicia or David ain’t coming. I understand that David and Jacob are not on the best of terms but I feel like he still would have came to pay his respects to his son’s mother no matter what. Then they wrote some lame excuse about Alicia breaking her leg are you kidding me? Emmerdale dropped the ball for a character like Leyla who has been on the show for years she deserved better.”
Another viewer, u/Wonderful-Cow-9664 suggested: “They could have done what other programmes have done, and have the character come back as a background-they don’t need to have any actual screen time.
“Just having them mentioned as being there, or seeing the back of a lookalikes head in the church scenes would have sufficed. It’s just not realistic to let a young lad grieve by himself.”
