Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale star Kevin Mathurin has spoken about his character Charles Anderson's new love interest for the first time.
The actor admitted his surprise over the ITV show's recent scenes showing Charles develop an attraction to Laurel Thomas.
Last month, Charles and Laurel clashed bitterly over their opposing ideas for the church's Harvest Festival plans. Charles and his mum Claudette both feared that Laurel's proposals were too modern for a church setting.
When one argument between Charles and Laurel escalated at Woodbine Cottage, anger turned to passion as they rushed upstairs together.
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Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy about the story at the Inside Soap Awards this week, Kevin laughed: "It was a total surprise! It came out of nowhere.
"I was kind of excited when the storyline came up, though, because working with Charlotte [Bellamy, who plays Laurel] was fantastic and it was such a fun storyline to do.
"So who knows where it goes, to be quite honest? But it was fun to do."
Charles appears to be moving on with his life following his split from his partner Manpreet Sharma earlier this year.
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Viewers saw the couple hit the rocks following the death of Charles' son Ethan, although Manpreet later acknowledged that they'd been having problems for a while before that.
Reflecting on the uncertainty over who's best for Charles, Kevin told us: "Well it's a good love triangle to be in! I think Charles is always going to love Manpreet, because they go way back. But as far as going onto pastures new, there are deep feelings there between Charles and Laurel.
"So who knows? There's been so much damage to the relationship between Charles and Manpreet, so maybe pastures new is the way to go."
The Inside Soap Awards took place in London on Monday night. Emmerdale took home three prizes, with Eden Taylor-Draper (Belle Dingle) being named Best Actress, the Dingles topping the vote for Best Family, and Piper the dog triumphing as Best Pet.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
