Emmerdale spoilers follow from Thursday's episode (October 31), which is available to watch now on streaming service ITVX but hasn't yet aired on ITV1.
Emmerdale has given a rare update on Robert Sugden following the tragic news of Rebecca White's death.
The latest visit to the village, which is streaming early on ITVX ahead of its ITV1 airing this evening, saw Ross Barton fill in the blanks amid the revelation that Rebecca has passed away.
Earlier this week, Ross confided in Charity Dingle about how he'd split from Rebecca some time ago.
A few months later, Rebecca had gone into hospital for routine surgery but passed away due to unexpected complications in the operating theatre.
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Rebecca and Robert's young son Seb was subsequently taken away to live with a relative in Bristol, even though Ross had been keen to raise him.
The fallout continued in Thursday's episode, as Aaron Dingle and Mackenzie Boyd teamed up to share the news of Rebecca's death with Robert's sister Victoria.
As Victoria's thoughts instantly turned to her nephew Seb, she suggested there must have been some mistake: "We'd have been told, surely. We'd have been involved. Robert has to know.
"I mean, we need to find him – we need to find Seb."
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When the trio caught up with Ross at The Woolpack later, Victoria berated him for his secrecy. She also insisted that Robert would never have agreed to Seb living with the aunt in Bristol.
Ross replied: "Except he did, though. Look, they don't just hand off little kiddies to anybody who asks. He agreed to it, signed the papers."
Elaborating further, Ross revealed that he was partly involved in the process due to his closeness to Seb and even visited Robert in prison to discuss the situation.
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He added: "I told Robert how much Seb loves Rebecca's aunty. The woman loves Seb – never had kids of her own, it made sense."
Ross poured salt in the wounds by saying that Robert had insisted the situation was none of Victoria's business, while Aaron's name "didn't even come up".
Fan favourite Robert was played by Ryan Hawley in his most recent run on the show between 2014 and 2019.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
