Ryan Hawley making surprise Emmerdale return
Ryan Hawley is returning to 'Emmerdale' for a brief stint as Robert Sugden.
Ryan Hawley is returning to 'Emmerdale'.
The 39-year-old actor will be reprising his role as Robert Sugden - who he played from 2014 to 2019 - for a limited stint as his ex-husband Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) prepared to marry his half-brother John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth), who is a secret killer.
A source told The Sun: “It’s the biggest secret in soapland but Robert is returning to Emmerdale.
“Ryan has a lot of respect for the show and its fans and he really wanted to give them a treat so he agreed to come back for a brief stint.
“It’s going to be a huge surprise for fans especially the Robron fans who have missed Robert desperately since Ryan quit."
According to the outlet, 'Emmerdale' bosses went to "extreme" lengths to keep Ryan's return under wraps, including "smuggling" him onto set and using fake names in scripts.
The insider added: “Nothing was seen as being too extreme to keep the secret with fake names on scripts, smuggling him in and out of the studios and keeping everything very tight.”
Robert was written out when he was sentenced to 14 years in jail for murder after accidentally killing Lee Posner (Kris Mochrie), who had raped his sister Victoria (Isabel Hodgins).
However, it later emerged Lee's death could have been caused by a brutal fight he'd had earlier in the day with his brother Luke, leaving scope for Robert to be released.
Ahead of Ryan's exit, his on-screen spouse Danny admitted they had both shed "genuine" tears during his final scenes.
He told Inside Soap magazine at the time: "We've done a lot of the goodbye scenes already - there was real emotion in there, and a genuine tear or two! Ryan and I have been close for a good four years, and it won't be the same without him. But the show goes on - and it will be interesting to see what happens to Aaron next."
