In Emmerdale, things are about to become worse for Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) and Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock). The once-stable marriage is now in danger of divorcing permanently.
The introduction of Gus Malcolms (Alan McKenna) into their lives caused tension in their relationship. Rhona declined her ex-husband’s request to utilise the embryos they had frozen together during their marriage. Nevertheless, Gus utilised them, and the outcome was baby Ivy.
Rhona took over the role of carer for Ivy when her biological mother passed very soon after the baby was born since Gus was unable to handle the situation. Their growing attachment finally resulted in her “kidnapping” the child in an attempt to prevent Gus from accompanying her to France.
In the trial that followed, Rhona was found not guilty of kidnapping, although Gus was subsequently imprisoned for fraud related to the theft of the embryos. Gus received a lengthier sentence thanks to Rhona’s victim impact statement, which was altered at the last minute without Marlon’s knowledge.
Even though Marlon helped Rhona through the majority of this story and even grew very attached to baby Ivy, there were many aspects of Rhona’s behaviour that bothered him. In particular, the way she made important decisions without first consulting him or considering how they would affect their children, April (Amelia Flanagan) and Leo (Harvey Rogerson).
Ivy’s kidnapping was undoubtedly a major incident, but Marlon’s breaking point came when she altered the impact statement in court. Marlon believed it was needlessly harsh, because they had already made a deal with Gus to take care of Ivy while he was incarcerated.
The two haven’t been friendly since, and they’ve even stopped sleeping together. The incessant bickering between Marlon and Rhona, which culminated in a furious stand-up fight, escalated over a dinner party at Tom and Belle’s (James Chase and Eden Taylor-Draper).
In subsequent episodes, Marlon will still be enraged with Rhona for her previous deeds. He will be especially enraged when he returns home and discovers that she is discussing getting Ivy baptised with Charles (Kevin Mathurin), and that she is once again making important decisions without consulting him.
Rhona argues that Charles brought up the topic initially, to which Marlon responds that she always has a good reason to exclude him from decisions. Once more, their arguments erupt, and Marlon loses it. Enraged, he hurls a pan of food onto the ground.
Unable to determine if he really wants to stay married, Marlon makes the decision to allow himself more time to consider his options by going camping with Paddy (Dominic Brunt). He confides in Paddy that he is considering divorcing Rhona.
Recalling the struggle to return to normal following his stroke, Paddy advises him to apply the same determination to rekindle his marriage.
Returning to Smithy, Rhona receives the same advice from her mother, Mary (Louise Jameson), who begs Rhona to do whatever it takes to preserve their connection.
Will Marlon and Rhona choose to battle for their union? Or has their divide become too great already?
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