Emmerdale spoilers from the soap's Christmas Day episode follow.
Emmerdale's Christmas Day episode was full of shocking revelations, including the reveal of Al Chapman's mystery woman after he'd been sneaking off behind Priya's back for months.
The soap also featured the return of Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb), who returned to the village after receiving an invite to Paddy Kirk and Chas Dingle's surprise wedding – and it was later confirmed that Debbie was actually Al's (Michael Wildman) second lover, with Debbie and Al having been in a secret relationship for months.
Actress Charley Webb has now spoken out about the huge twist and revealed what it was like returning to Emmerdale with such a big storyline.
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"I'm really pleased and it's great we managed to keep it a secret, it's always nice for the audience to get a surprise," Charley said.
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There were clues about this storyline on-screen back in July when Al got stuck in Aberdeen and Charity suggested that Debbie could fix his car, and Charley explained that she knew this storyline would be part of Debbie's return to the village.
"I've known for a while that this would be part of her return. Jane Hudson our Executive Producer told me when we had a meeting to discuss me coming back," she said.
"It's been hard keeping filming a secret, I only told my close friends and family so there was less chance of it getting out."
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Debbie currently has no idea that Al is engaged to Priya Kotecha (Fiona Wade), and Charley also teased more about how the storyline will play out over the next few weeks now that Debbie is back in the village.
"I can tell you now that [Al] is definitely not the one for Debbie," Charley said, before adding that Debbie is unaware that she's currently 'the other woman'.
"She has no idea and he's convinced her that keeping it a secret will be better because her family hate him and she agrees."
When asked about Debbie and Priya's inevitable realisation that Al has been seeing both of them, Charley teased that there will be a "fun twist", noting that no one messes Debbie around and gets away with it.
"It's going to be a really fun twist, I'm sure," she said.
"You don't mess with Debbie Dingle so watch out! Debbie will always get her revenge. She's not one to let things go."
Emmerdale continues on Monday, December 28 at 7pm on ITV.
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