Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale villain Ray Walters may have met his fate this month, but he continues to cause chaos in the village, particularly between Rhona Goskirk and Laurel Thomas. Despite knowing Ray’s true nature, Rhona and her husband Marlon Dingle decided not to warn Laurel about the criminal and let her begin a relationship with him.
Laurel later discovered the truth from Dylan Penders and promptly ended her romance. However, following Ray’s death, she chastised her close friends for standing by as she brought the villain into her kids’ lives.
Of course, viewers know that Rhona and Marlon were struggling to protect their own loved ones from Ray and his mother Celia Daniels.
After coercing Marlon’s daughter April into dealing drugs (and worse), the evil duo began to blackmail the family and almost killed Dylan to prove what they were capable of.
ITV
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“Laurel’s their friend, and they love her, and so they obviously care about that, but this fear is so deep, it’s purely about how do we save ourselves?” explained Zoe Henry, who plays Rhona.
“She knows Laurel’s got kids, and there’s that fear. The guilt involved in what if Ray does something to Laurel’s kids, how are we ever going to forgive ourselves? But the fear is so great. All they can stretch your imaginations to is their own immediate hell, and that’s Marlon and Rhona, and their three children.”
ITV
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The actor addressed whether Rhona and Laurel’s friendship will be permanently damaged by the Rhona’s omission, admitting it would be “tough” to come back from.
“It’s kind of the ultimate betrayal. But they’ve got a long history. I mean, Marlon was married to Laurel, so, you know, she’s an ex-wife. But yeah, I very much feel and hope that they can come back from it. But it’s a big ask.”
Next week will shine a huge spotlight on both Rhona and Laurel’s families as Ray’s killer is finally uncovered. The special flashback episodes will centre around the various suspects including Laurel, Arthur Thomas, Jai Sharma, Rhona, Marlon, April, Dylan, Paddy Dingle and Ross Barton on the day Ray was killed.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
Read more Emmerdale spoilers on our dedicated homepage
For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast from Inside Soap magazine. This week’s episode features a chat with Coronation Street star Jacob Roberts, who plays Kit Green.