Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) was left reeling in Emmerdale to learn that Ross

Barton (Michael Parr) had been in contact with Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley),

having met with him in prison. Robert is serving a life sentence in jail for his

role in the death of Lee Posner (Kris Mochrie), who died after he was struck on the back of the head with a shovel. Lee, as viewers of the ITV soap will recall, had raped Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) after a night out and Robert was horrified when he found out about his sister’s ordeal, which a showdown with the rapist ensuing. When he was sentenced, Robert cut all contact with his loved ones, including husband Aaron, and subsequently filed for divorce. It took Aaron a long time to come to terms with such a thing, given that Robert was his soulmate, but he’s in a good place right now, dating newcomer John (Oliver Farnworth), who was confirmed to be a secret brother of Robert. Things, however, took an emotional turn on Thursday (October 31) when Aaron learned that Rebecca White (Emily Head) had died and that Seb, Robert’s son, had been sent to live with an aunt of hers in Bristol.

This sparked a discussion in the pub as Ross, who broke the news of Rebecca’s passing, received questions aplenty about why no-one else was notified of her death. Ross explained that, because he had been so involved in Seb’s life, he was allowed to be involved in the process of what happened to the child after Rebecca’s death. ‘I went with them to the prison [to see Robert],’ he said. ‘I told Robert how much Seb loves Rebecca’s auntie. We would go there in the summers if I could get some work and when [Rebecca and I] split up that’s the first place she went.’

When Victoria quizzed him on why Robert never told her, Ross reiterated that her brother thought it was none of her business. Aaron, reeling to know someone had actually laid eyes on Robert, was sceptical, which prompted Ross to say something quite hurtful. ‘Your name didn’t even come up. What are you getting so worked up for? Aren’t you shacking up with his brother now?’ Aaron wasted little time in squaring up to Ross, who continued to wind him up, which led to Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) intervening. It’s no wonder Aaron was hurt given that he hasn’t seen Robert in years, so learning that someone else actually had managed to secure a visit with him must’ve come as quite the shock.