Emmerdale star Zoe Henry has opened up about Rhona Goskirk's role in the soap's upcoming labour storyline.
Next week's dramatic scenes will see Rhona learn from husband Marlon Dingle about her ex Gus's shock betrayal, after Gus secretly went against Rhona's wishes to not use their frozen embryos.
Speaking about Rhona discovering Gus's actions, and whether Marlon and her mum Mary would worry about her mental health as a result, Zoe said: "Yeah absolutely, who wouldn't?
"It's the absolute insanity of what's happened and how quickly it's happened, as the baby is being born imminently.
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"So how could anyone come out of that unscathed and not be affected by it? Rhona is lucky to have Marlon and her mum on hand – and they're there to guide her in the right direction."
Rhona goes to confront Gus about his betrayal, though in that moment his pregnant wife Lucy emerges and goes into labour, with Rhona taking action and driving her to the hospital.
"I think it's influenced by the nature of her job as a vet but also what sort of person she is – she is a caring person," Zoe explained.
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"Yes she is forthright and has a big mouth but at that point, her instinct kicks in and she's focusing on the right thing for Lucy – getting her to hospital and making sure the baby is born safely. Rhona becomes very practical, trying to get Lucy to hospital."
Speaking about how the baby could affect Rhona and Marlon's marriage, Zoe suggested that things could "of course" be tested if they're pulled in different directions over what to do.
"To be fair, after what they went through with Marlon's stroke I think they're pretty invincible, but you can never say never in soapland," she added.
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"This is something that would test any relationship I think, particularly as Rhona is tenacious and not somebody to roll over and give in.
"Ultimately Marlon's role is to protect her and make sure everything is okay. They just need to make sure they're on the same page, but I'm not sure they are at the moment...".
Speaking further about her own feelings over the storyline, Zoe said: "I love a challenge anyway so I'm always thrilled to get a big storyline.
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"I'm always thrilled to work with Mark [Charnock, who plays Marlon] and Louise [Jameson, who plays Mary] and now Alan [McKenna, who plays Gus] too, who's brilliant.
"I'm also enjoying how difficult it is in terms of who to side with? The longer this story goes on, the more I realise there are no heroes and no villains and everyone is a victim in this.
"Everybody is struggling to make sense of it and do the right thing. That's what's interesting for me – it's the conundrum of that," the star added.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
