Fans of Emmerdale have been left fuming at two notable absences as the village prepares for Leyla’s funeral. This comes as Jacob was forced to say goodbye to mum Leyla Harding when she was killed in last month’s limousine crash.
During the fallout, Jacob has struggled with the pain of losing his mum, and this week began funeral arrangements. Many had assumed that this meant that Alicia Gallagher and David Metcalfe would return to the soap to pay their last respects.
Alicia was Leyla’s sister and is Jacob’s biological mother. Alicia left the soap in 2015, beginning a new life in Portugal with Jacob. While he returned, she did not – and hasn’t been seen since.
David, meanwhile, was a father figure to Jacob through his relationships with both Leyla and Alicia. He left the soap in 2023, after learning of Jacob’s relationship with partner Victoria.
While Jacob and David didn’t part on the best of terms, it’s still a surprise that he wouldn’t return in Jake’s time of need.
Why aren’t David and Alicia returning to Emmerdale?
Jacob revealed this week that neither Alica nor David would be attending Leyla’s send-off. Their excuses? Alicia has a broken leg, and is therefore unable to travel from Portugal to the village.
David, meanwhile, is absent as son Theo is ill. In real-life, that’s because actors Natalie Anderson and Matthew Wolfenden are no longer in the soap, with no plans (as yet!) to return.
But for fans, that excuse isn’t good enough.
David and Alicia should be at Leyla’s funeral, Emmerdale fans demand
Writing on social media as this week’s scenes aired, viewers shared their frustration at the missing characters.
“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 mother no matter what. Then they wrote some lame excuse about Alicia breaking her leg are you kidding me?” asked one fan on Reddit.
“Recast and better reasons are options here. E.g. Alicia is on a cruise, something that would actually prevent her from attending the funeral of her sister and supporting her child rather than an inconvenience,” another ageed.
“Who needs enemies when you have family like David and Alicia,” joked a third, over on X.
“I’s ridiculous, writers should check if actors would come back before writing someone’s exit. They should have just shoved Leyla in a taxi, it makes more sense than Alicia not bothering to turn up to support Jacob,” said a fourth.
Has Emmerdale ruined Leyla’s exit with a poor send-off?
