Emmerdale star Charlotte Bellamy has spoken about the chaotic scenes ahead on the soap after Arthur Thomas lies about his love life.
Charlotte’s character Laurel Thomas is in for a shock next week as she overhears Arthur boasting to his friend April Windsor.
As Arthur is keen to seem more confident and experienced than he really is, he starts flirting with older man John Sugden.
Arthur then goes a step further by lying to April about how he’s supposedly had sex with John.
Related: Best streaming services
After listening in to this conversation, Laurel is furious over the age gap and she rushes off to confront John over the false claims that he’s sleeping with her 17-year-old son.
Speaking about the scenes, Charlotte explained: “I think Laurel is really freaked out, because she immediately thinks that John’s taking advantage. Little does she know that obviously Arthur is lying, which will come out.
“But it’s really about Arthur’s insecurity, about wanting to be cool and experienced as a young gay man, rather than being seen as a novice.”
Asked whether Laurel is supportive towards Arthur when she finds out it’s all a lie, Charlotte replied: “Oh, she is. But she’s also made a complete fool of herself in front of John and accused him of all sorts, so she has to go back to him and apologise, which is slightly mortifying.
ITV
Related: Emmerdale sets up emotional Zak Dingle story in latest episode
“So Arthur has put his mum in it. But you’ve got to take the good with the bad. These things arise when you’ve got kids. She wants to believe her son, obviously. She doesn’t necessarily want to immediately think that he’s lying. I think maybe she’ll be a little bit more wary next time.”
The drama sparks a showdown at The Woolpack, which gets even messier when Arthur responds by exposing Laurel’s new fling with Charles Anderson.
Laurel’s estranged husband Jai Sharma witnesses this row and is upset to learn that she has someone new in her life.
ITV
Related: Emmerdale‘s John Sugden explains Aidan Moore mystery
Charlotte added: “I think as a man, that Laurel’s moved on so quickly, Jai’s probably has his ego dented a bit. I think that’s really how he feels.
“But actually he’s doing the dirty on Laurel with the divorce settlement. So he’s moved on to other things as well. There’s not a huge amount of love lost there.”
Emmerdale airs these scenes on Friday, October 4. You can see next week’s stories in more detail with our collection of 19 spoiler pictures and 7 huge spoilers.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
