Robert Sugden

[maidmarian]

All I hope is Aaron does not end up being the stereotypical sad gay man chasing the bisexual/straight guy. The producer says stuff to get people interested to watch. I just hope Aaron is not going to end up losing in the end?

I hope that too Serena. Ive always liked Aaron-
tho he did get a lot of criticism.in his first run
in Emmerdale.
I dont take what any Soap producer says particularly
seriously but the over-hype does sometimes
show why there are so many pot-holes in plotlines
and where the next will be.

[maidmarian]

All I hope is Aaron does not end up being the stereotypical sad gay man chasing the bisexual/straight guy. The producer says stuff to get people interested to watch. I just hope Aaron is not going to end up losing in the end?

I hope that too Serena. Ive always liked Aaron-
tho he did get a lot of criticism.in his first run
in Emmerdale.
I dont take what any Soap producer says particularly
seriously but the over-hype does sometimes
show why there are so many pot-holes in plotlines
and where the next will be.

[alan45]

Robert Sugden's feud with his sister-in-law Katie hots up on Emmerdale next week after she realises he is having an affair.

With Katie (Sammy Winward) growing increasingly suspicious over Robert's behaviour, she sneaks a peek at his phone and spots that he has been exchanging flirtatious messages with a contact listed as 'A'.


© ITV
Ryan Hawley as Robert Sugden

Failing to realise that Aaron Livesy is the person in question, Katie jumps to the conclusion that he is secretly seeing Alicia Metcalfe, a situation that Robert quickly tries to turn to his advantage…

Here, Ryan Hawley – who plays Robert – chats about the drama to come.

How is Robert feeling about his relationship with Aaron?
"It's a really exciting and thrilling relationship because nobody else knows about it. Robert goes to Aaron to get all of the fulfilment that he doesn't get from Chrissie. He likes the danger, too. Robert is very devious and he loses interest very quickly, so Aaron is his next project."

How would you describe Robert's feelings for Aaron?
"In Aaron, Robert sees someone who he can be himself around. Aaron possibly knows him better than anyone else to some extent. He is also someone that Robert finds very attractive and he's gratified by him in that sense too."

Moving forward, would Robert be happy to marry Chrissie while continuing to have Aaron as his bit on the side?
"With the way things have been going, that's a dilemma that Robert is going through and it's not really clear what his final choice is going to be. He's still going through that, so we'll have to see how that pans out.

"I'd say there's absolutely no way he will throw Home Farm away, even if he fell head over heels for someone. Home Farm is his big flagship trophy."


© ITV
Aaron and Robert

Does Robert feel guilty about betraying Chrissie?
"Yes, because Robert genuinely does love Chrissie. I imagine that when they first met, Robert had finally found someone that he was excited by. She was smart, sophisticated and many other things that he hadn't experienced in a woman before.

"Robert certainly wouldn't want to hurt Chrissie's feelings. If his relationship with Aaron were to come out, it would upset Robert purely because of how Chrissie would feel."

How does Robert feel when he finds out that Katie has gone through his phone?
"He's really surprised about it but he's also absolutely furious that she's meddling in his affairs. To take somebody's phone out of their pocket and do something like that is nasty and I think it really rubs Robert up the wrong way.

"After what happened at the wedding, Katie has a vendetta against Robert that she's never going to let go. She's really got it in for him. Robert has also got this long-term feud with Andy and Katie. Maybe he's jealous of what they have, with their childhood relationship that blossomed."

Why do Katie and Chas think Robert is seeing Alicia?
"When Katie finds the phone, she sees that the contact he's been exchanging flirtatious messages with is listed as 'A'. Coincidentally she sees Robert chatting to Alicia, who's working behind the bar at The Woolpack filling in a shift for someone. There's a bit of flirting and Katie misconstrues the situation.

"Robert is very manipulative and as soon as Aaron warns him that Katie thinks he's having an affair with Alicia, he really runs with that and has a lot of fun with it. He uses Alicia to make Katie believe that he really is having that affair, just so he can absolutely humiliate her!"

.
© ITV
Katie sneaks a peek at Robert's phone


© ITV
Robert's plan begins to work

Does Robert manage to humiliate Katie?
"He gets to do it in a very public place – in The Woolpack of course! He sends lots of signals to Katie by flirting with Alicia and it's all for her benefit. It does all come out, but you'll just have to wait and see how."

What kind of consequences do you expect if the truth comes out about Robert and Aaron?
"It would be absolutely disastrous because it would absolutely shatter Robert's world. He's come back with all of this status and he's the king of the castle, so that would all be taken away from him and his world would just crumble down.

"More importantly, Robert really loves Chrissie and he wouldn't want to hurt her in that way. He thinks it's fine to have a bit on the side and what Chrissie doesn't know won't hurt her."

Is Robert aware of how much Aaron is falling for him?
"I don't believe Robert is that observant or caring of people who he might see as being peripheral to his universe! I don't think he really sees their emotions as being that important to him. He possibly sees them as being a bit expendable."

What did you think when Emmerdale's producer Kate Oates told you about the story?
"To play someone who is so devious is so much fun. You don't get to be nasty in normal life without any consequences, but I get to do that here!

"More importantly, Robert's particular storyline over this period of time is absolutely brilliant. He's come in with so much history and he has this impending wedding to Chrissie after falling for someone else. He also has the secret of his bisexuality to hide from everyone. I thought all of that was going to be really exciting and I think it's going well."

Have you had any reaction from fans?
"I'm not on Twitter as I'm quite a private person. A few people have asked for pictures and whatnot and that's great. Everyone's been very pleasant!"

[Katy]

He looks too young to be Robert

[Perdita]

Emmerdale's Robert Sugden continues to play games in tonight's episode (February 2) as he asks Andy to be his best man.

As the ITV soap kicks off a must-see week, Robert (Ryan Hawley) puts on a show of happy families by helping Andy and Katie to move into their new caravan.

Making sure that Katie is in earshot, Robert leaves Andy stunned by asking him to take on the role of best man at Thursday's wedding.

While Andy is initially reluctant, he soon warms to the idea when Robert suggests that it's time to put their troubled past behind them. However, Katie isn't fooled and can see that he's just trying to wind her up.

Robert asks Andy to be his best man
© ITV
Robert asks Andy to be his best man

Sammy Winward, who plays Katie, explained: "Katie has to bite her tongue at this point. She knows that Robert is doing it to get at her and he doesn't really want Andy to be the best man.

"Katie knows that everyone will turn against her if she says something, although she does tell Robert that he may be fooling everyone else, but he's not fooling her."

[mariba]

Why does Katie think all the time that Robert wants to wind her up??? If he does in this case who can blame him after all her obsessive behavior towards him? Katie is just mad..

[lizann]

ryan is doing a decent job as robert i have forgot about karl

[Kim]

ryan is doing a decent job as robert i have forgot about karl

I agree, one of the only recasts I have actually preferred.

[Perdita]

I still miss Karl but I am slowly getting used to Ryan

[Perdita]

Emmerdale producer Kate Oates has revealed that Aaron Livesy's loved ones may be in danger due to bad boy Robert Sugden.

Aaron's mother Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) and close friend Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) are both aware of his recent fling with Robert, which could land them in hot water with the ruthless character later in the year.

Robert arrives and Aaron implores him to call off the wedding, telling him he loves him.
© ITV
Emmerdale's Aaron and Robert

Robert (Ryan Hawley) recently had a role to play in the death of his sister-in-law Katie after she uncovered his affair and threatened to tell his wife Chrissie the truth.

Speaking about long-term plans for the storyline, Oates teased: "I think the important thing to remember is that Robert has gone to extreme lengths to protect this secret. Now more people know about the secret, as Paddy knows and Chas knows. That puts Robert in a slightly dangerous situation, but possibly it also puts people who are close to Aaron and know the truth in a slightly dangerous situation as well.

"We all know from soap deaths that it's a slippery slope - once you've done one, you might as well do some more! I think that Aaron may have inadvertently put people in the firing line, but that will be a longer arc."

Robert meets with Chas and Paddy.
© ITV
Robert with Paddy and Chas

Future episodes will also explore Aaron's guilt after he helped Robert to cover up his part in Katie's demise. Viewers saw Aaron (Danny Miller) agree to deal with the crime scene while his secret lover headed off to marry Chrissie.

Oates continued: "Aaron has really fallen for Robert, but he is absolutely struggling with his guilt because when Robert went off and got married, Aaron was in a position where he covered up the footprints at Wylie's Farm and he stood there while Katie went cold. He then walked away and turned his back on her.

"That's obviously something that Aaron will carry deep in his heart, so he's got a journey to try and process that. We know that Aaron doesn't cope well with guilt, as we saw that after the Jackson story.

"I think what will be interesting to see is how long Aaron can cope with being Robert's bit on the side. We saw before Katie died that it was rapidly becoming not enough for him and that will have to get to a pressure point at some time soon."

Oates also confirmed that Aaron's recent trips out running are a way for him to punish himself as he struggles to cope with his inner turmoil.

She said: "We'll see him running until his feet bleed sometimes and going out several times a day. Because he has been through a period of self-harm before where he was cutting himself and putting out cigarettes on himself after the Jackson story, he's trying hard to channel it in another way.

"Aaron doesn't want to go back to that place, so he's just channelling it through punishing himself physically but almost in an 'allowed way'."