There’s danger for Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) in upcoming Emmerdale episodes as an increasingly desperate John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) resorts to drugging him to keep him dependent on him.
The backdrop to this is that Aaron starts to become suspicious about what his husband could be up to, as Danny Miller told us.
‘His behaviour changes and he becomes a bit erratic. He’s going out all the time and he’s out for these long runs. Aaron knows he’s used it personally as an excuse in the past when he wants to get away, and he’s wondering what he’s struggling with.
‘He puts two and two together and starts to work out that maybe Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb) and Robert (Ryan Hawley) are right [about John].’
The fact that Robert Sugden’s suspicions about John are in Aaron’s mind is important, as Robert’s return has been hugely significant for him. Before he came back, Aaron was satisfied that his future was with John. But now, according to Danny, Aaron is torn.
‘He really wants to put his blinkers on, keep his eyes closed and just head for what he thinks is the love of his life,’ he explained. ‘Or he’s trying to make it out like that. Since Robert’s come back it’s been a bit harder for him to believe in that, hence him cheating on John.
‘What you have to remember is that, during all this, it’s Robert at the end of it – and that’s his genuine, true love.’
Before Aaron leaves with John to go to the remote cottage again, Robert has another attempt to persuade Aaron to stay and to be with him.
‘It’s his last ditch attempt to save him from making the biggest mistake of his life, as I think he says a few times to Aaron. But Aaron just thinks it’s the same old Robert from years ago who’s trying to manipulate the situation to his favour,’ Danny said.
The actor said he believed that the ‘fairytale ending’ to the story would be for John to leave the village and for Aaron to get back with Robert.
‘And they all live happily ever after,’ he said. ‘Of course it’s soap, and it doesn’t work like that.’
Nevertheless, he thought Robert and Aaron were soulmates who ultimately should be together, but Aaron lets their shared past get in the way of following his true feelings.
‘I do think they’re supposed to be together. I do believe they are two people who’ve always needed each other. This is the opportunity for Robert to express that and Aaron manages to find a way of pushing him away because he knows from previous experiences that him and Robert shouldn’t work, although they do work, they want to work though they haven’t in the past.
‘He’s still got a lot of anger towards Robert for handing himself in to the police and cutting ties when he went to prison, so there’s all that to play as well.’
Of course, standing between the Robron reunion that so many fans long for is John Sugden. The increasingly desperate killer has recently hunted down Mackenzie Boyd with a bow and arrow, as clues begin to mount up about his involvement in the death of Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter).
