Emmerdale star Emma Atkins has spoken about the dramatic moment that viewers have been waiting for — when Charity Dingle discovers that her husband Mackenzie is the father of Chloe’s baby.
Next week on Emmerdale, Mackenzie will go off the rails, having learnt that baby Reuben has been diagnosed with meningitis. Unable to express his anguish, he starts drinking heavily and ends up going AWOL after a fracas at The Woolpack with Dan.
Charity, who believes Reuben’s father is a man Chloe met on a night out, is baffled by her husband’s behaviour, and wrongly concludes that he is having regrets about their recent marriage.
But when she decides to surprise Chloe with a visit at the hospital, she spots Mackenzie cooing over Reuben from afar, and the penny finally drops.
Reveals Emma Atkins, “Her initial reaction is, ‘Why is Mackenzie with Reuben?’ and then it’s that moment where everything suddenly clicks into place.
“The previous 72 hours have been extremely strange, regarding Mackenzie’s behaviour. She immediately realises what is going on, and then it’s disbelief and shock.”
Speaking about how she prepared for the dramatic scene, Emma continues, “The stage direction said ‘It’s panic’ so I spoke to Nicola Wheeler (who plays Nicola King), because she’s a connoisseur of filming panic attacks.
“I’ve never been in that situation, but I feel like I connected to it because there’s so much history there. Charity’s put all her eggs in one basket with Mackenzie. She’s finally laid herself bare and said, ‘I wasn’t going to tell you about Bails (the police officer who sexually abused Charity as a teenager) but I think I’m ready to share my deepest, darkest secrets with you because I know that I love you.’
“I put a bit of pressure on myself, because it’s an iconic soap moment and you want to deliver; you want to make sure the audience connect and go, ‘Did you see it when she found out?!’
“It was a really crazy moment in my head and I had to try and detach and just be the actress that I feel I am.”
Mackenzie slept with Chloe back in September while on a short break from Charity, who’d upset her lover by ruling out the possibility of them trying for another baby.
She had suffered an ectopic pregnancy the previous month and coldly remarked that if he wanted to ‘scatter his seed’ he should ‘do it elsewhere.’
Mack was horrified when Chloe later revealed that she was carrying his child, and he has been determined that Charity mustn’t find out. In a typical soapy twist, Chloe went on to give birth on his and Charity’s wedding day.
Emma adds that the revelation is set to ‘break’ Charity, who believed she had found her happy ever after with Mackenzie after three failed marriages and countless other disastrous relationships.
But she reveals that, true to style, the Woolpack landlady will pull herself together and take revenge.
“There’s got to be some level of vengeance, but a lot of it comes in the form of humour with Charity because she’s trying to mask her real hurt by throwing ridiculous insults all through the village so that everybody can hear. That's her way. We’ve filmed it, actually — it’s great!
“It was a bit chaotic and a bit messy and funny. It was out in the village and the whole street gets to see. She likes the showdown, does Charity!”
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30 pm on ITV, with a hour-long episode on Thursdays — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on ITVX.
