Emmerdale’s Ryan Hawley confirms huge obstacle for Robert and Aaron to overcome

It wouldn’t be Emmerdale without a bit of Robron drama.

Beloved characters Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) reunited last year, but faced trouble not long after when Robert’s prison husband Kev Townsend (Chris Coghill) rocked up.

Kev left the village with a broken heart after discovering Robert was back with Aaron. He headed back to the Dales towards the end of 2025 as part of John Sugden’s (Oliver Farnworth) revenge plan, but changed his mind about assisting in putting Robert and Aaron in danger and departed once more.

The start of 2026 saw Robert blackmailed by Joe Tate (Ned Porteous). He was forced to hide ID cards in Butler’s Farm that came from Celia’s. Joe told Robert that if he didn’t comply, he’d show the police footage of Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) killing her brother.

Desperate to protect his sister, Robert did as Joe asked, but had no idea at the time that the cards were stolen by a woman responsible for drug dealing, modern day slavery and human trafficking.

If Robert didn’t follow Joe’s order, Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb) wouldn’t have ended up in prison. Due to the fact no-one can prove Moira didn’t help Celia with her many crimes, it’s looking like she will get sentenced for a very long time.

Moira decided that she’d plead guilty in her upcoming hearing, believing she’d spend less time behind bars than if she pleaded not guilty. When Robert discovered this he felt awful, knowing he’s one of the reasons Moira’s life has fallen apart.

Robert had no choice but to tell Aaron his secret last week. While Aaron said that he wouldn’t tell anyone, he made it clear that he wasn’t sure what this betrayal means for their relationship.

Whether they can get over this hurdle is something star Ryan Hawley discussed with us recently.

‘I think that their relationship is going to be tested by the things that are happening with the farm and with Moira, certainly with Moira, that’s a huge obstacle for them that they’re going to have to get over’, he said.

‘And Moira being with Cain and all of that in the Dingle family. So, I don’t know how they’ll navigate that.’

In this week’s episodes, Robert’s guilt increases even more when he listens to Kyle Winchester (Huey Quinn) express his worry about Moira going to prison.

Ryan told us how Kyle’s comments impact Robert.

‘Robert finds Kyle, and he makes a decision off the back of Kyle saying how it’s impacted his life, Moira going to prison. And I think Robert really feels that.

‘He feels the weight of the consequences of what he’s done, and feels that the only way that he can make things right is by putting himself back in the situation where he’d get charged with tampering with evidence and then have to go to prison.’

Robert and Aaron will then discover Celia had a storage unit in the middle of Hotten, which may contain evidence to free Moira. They get the key thanks to Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), who remembers seeing it while he was on the farm with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt).

‘It’s a race against time’, Ryan said, describing the panic that sets in for Moira’s loved ones.