Rebecca and Robert’s young son Seb was subsequently taken away to live with a relative in Bristol, even though Ross had been keen to raise him.
The fallout continued in Thursday’s episode, as Aaron Dingle and Mackenzie Boyd teamed up to share the news of Rebecca’s death with Robert’s sister Victoria.
As Victoria’s thoughts instantly turned to her nephew Seb, she suggested there must have been some mistake: “We’d have been told, surely. We’d have been involved. Robert has to know.
“I mean, we need to find him – we need to find Seb.”
ITV
When the trio caught up with Ross at The Woolpack later, Victoria berated him for his secrecy. She also insisted that Robert would never have agreed to Seb living with the aunt in Bristol.
Ross replied: “Except he did, though. Look, they don’t just hand off little kiddies to anybody who asks. He agreed to it, signed the papers.”
Elaborating further, Ross revealed that he was partly involved in the process due to his closeness to Seb and even visited Robert in prison to discuss the situation.
ITV
He added: “I told Robert how much Seb loves Rebecca’s aunty. The woman loves Seb – never had kids of her own, it made sense.”
Ross poured salt in the wounds by saying that Robert had insisted the situation was none of Victoria’s business, while Aaron’s name “didn’t even come up”.
Fan favourite Robert was played by Ryan Hawley in his most recent run on the show between 2014 and 2019.