Emmerdale’s James Hooton: ‘Sam feels betrayed by Rachel’

Emmerdale’s James Hooton reveals to Soaplife that Sam is torn between the Dingle code and his love for Rachel when he finds out Jai is Archie’s dad…

What triggers this revelation?

“Sam tells Rachel he wants to have a baby with her. She’s shocked and Sam is totally stonewalled by her. Sam thinks she’s got cold feet.”

And then there’s an incident with Archie…

“Yes, the Dingles are having a fireworks party. Samson has a sparkler which he whizzes around and a stray spark sets off some fireworks in a box that Sam hasn’t secured properly. Some of them go off and fly towards Archie’s pram and he gets injured.”

Does Sam blame himself?

“Yes, he’s mortified and expects Rishi to have a go, but it’s Jai who goes ballistic. Sam is left wondering why Jai is more concerned about Archie than Rishi is.”

Ah...

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Sam knows something is up and when he questions Rachel she tells him the truth.”

 

Wow! How does he take it?

“He doesn’t like that Rachel has lied to him, but Rachel explains that she was pressured into it by Jai and Rishi for Charity’s benefit. Sam feels betrayed, but realises that Rachel was coerced.”

What does Sam do?

“He confronts Jai and Rishi. Jai tries to manipulate Sam into keeping his secret and Sam walks out of the factory feeling confused. He’s not sure if he should tell Charity or keep his mouth shut.”

What does he decide?

“Well, Charity comes round and offers Sam some work and there’s a split second where Sam’s going to come clean, but he looks at Rachel and changes his mind.”

Surely it’s only a matter of time before Charity discovers the truth?

“It will come down to who breaks the news in the end – or, perhaps, Charity putting two and two together.”

Can Rachel and Sam get through this?

“When two people love each other as much as they do, there’s always a way through.”