You’ll Be VERY SHOCKED When Little Leyla’s Betrayal Leaves Charity and Sarah’s World “Shattered” — and You Won’t Want to Miss What Happens Next.

Let’s be honest, nobody thought Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) could keep the secret surrounding the true parentage of baby Leyla for as long as she has in Emmerdale, did they?

The – pretty insane – situation began when Charity offered to be a surrogate for her granddaughter Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill) and her now-husband Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) when her adoption plans were halted, with her Fanconi anaemia rendering her ineligible.

Charity, of course, did a Charity; almost immediately after the embryo transplant, she got absolutely trashed and slept with Ross Barton (Michael Parr) after an argument with her husband, Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb).

Falling pregnant, Charity was filled with horror rather than joy when she realised there was absolutely no way to know who’s the baby actually was, and she felt even worse when a DNA test revealed that the baby was hers and Ross’s.

While we’ve been waiting ever-so-patiently for the secret to explode so we can enjoy the undoubtedly explosive chaos it’ll cause, very few villagers have discovered the truth; Ross knows, Mack knows, Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) knows, and Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) knows.

One other villager learned the truth: evil rapist Dr Caitlin Todd (Caroline Harker), who blackmailed Charity over the secret, but, well…she certainly won’t be divulging what she knows.

Y’know – ’cause she’s dead.

Yup, after learning that the dastardly doctor raped her grandma, Sarah shoved Todd, leading to her bashing her bonce on a table before collapsing to the floor, dead.

Charity decided to take the blame for the crime, something Emmerdale producer, Sophie Roper, admits is partly fuelled by her guilt, telling Metro: ‘I think that decision in the first moment is very much instinctive of the need to protect her granddaughter, and knowing that Sarah has this life ahead of her, and will she be able to cope if the consequences of what happened might result in her incarceration?

‘And I think Charity thinking, ‘I could take the blame for this. I could handle this,’ is probably where that first instinct comes from, but of course mixed in with all of that is that secret that she’s carrying. So, absolutely, I think that will play a part in her thought process.’

What will the truth do to Sarah? According to actor Katie, it’d be cataclysmic: ‘It would destroy her whole world.’

She continued: ‘Charity has given her the best gift she ever could have asked for, so, for that to be taken away from her, it will definitely cause issues in their relationship.

Sophie added: ‘It’s going to test them.

‘This is the ultimate betrayal, and this is a relationship and a dynamic where they are so important in each other’s lives, and there’s so much trust and love and respect that ultimately I think it will test both of those characters in ways we’ve never seen before.’

And what of baby Leyla? Would the truth change how Sarah feels about who she thought was her daughter? Katie isn’t sure.

‘I don’t know. It’s the type of thing that we won’t know until we know, because it’s a massive thing.

‘She’s raised this baby since she was born. That love can’t just go away. The biological side of things has changed, but you don’t just stop loving a child that you’ve raised.

‘Once it does all come out, we’ll see Sarah go through that.’

Sophie expanded on Sarah’s reaction: ‘I think Katie’s right that biology is one part of this, but she will have viewed that daughter as absolutely hers, and I think that’s the strength of the mother’s love that Sarah has for that child.

‘Ultimately there will be moments of, ‘I wish things might have been different.’

‘There’s lots to reconcile with, but I think it’s lovely to see Sarah’s character evolve over recent months and years, and she is now a mother embarking on this next stage of her life and the next stage of the character.

‘I think, in the similar way that we’ve got Charity so protective over Sarah, Sarah will absolutely take on that Dingle trait for her daughter as well.’

I know I’m not just speaking for myself – but I can’t wait to see the fall out!