Lawrence Robb is swapping Emmerdale’s fields for the ballroom at Elstree as he gets ready to compete for the Glitterball Trophy in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. The actor, 34, is one of several soap stars taking part in the BBC One dance competition, which returns to screens with brand new hosts in Josh Widdecombe, Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe, who replace long-time show presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Who is Lawrence Robb?
Lawrence Robb is a Scottish actor, best known to audiences for having played the role of Mackenzie Boyd in Emmerdale since 2020. Prior to landing the part on Emmerdale, he appeared in an episode of I Hate Suzie and short film The Trouble Downstairs and has taken part in numerous stage shows including Legally Blonde and Into The Woods.
Lawrence’s debut Emmerdale scenes saw him cross paths with Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) – and it didn’t take long for chemistry to sizzle. Shortly afterwards, it was revealed that he was the secret brother of show mainstay Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb).
His Emmerdale storylines
Mack has featured in numerous storylines over the years, from his whirlwind romance with Charity to being taken prisoner by killer John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth), having a secret baby with Chloe Harris (Jessie Elland) and finding out wife Charity cheated on him with her ex Ross Barton (Michael Parr).
Lawrence also played the role of Mack in Emmerdale’s historic crossover episode with Coronation Street, Corriedale, earlier this year. Away from Emmerdale, he is also a singer and has shared videos of himself duetting with co-star Bradley Johnson (Vinny Dingle).
Is he leaving Emmerdale?
Fans have been fearful that Lawrence will be leaving his role as much-loved character Mack in order to do Strictly. Emmerdale and Coronation Street stars don’t typically stay on their respective ITV soaps while competing on the BBC One dance competition.
Lawrence said: ‘For the next couple of months, alongside strutting my stuff on the Emmerdale fields, I’m going to be strutting my stuff on the dancefloor. ‘It’s very exciting, but I’m terrified’.
Co-star Emma Atkins – who plays Charity – confirmed that he will be written out, telling The Sun: ‘We were filming a scene where we had to get him out so he could go and do it as he’d just got the phone call [from Strictly] and they wrote him out very quickly.’
Mack is currently at the centre of a big storyline onscreen, with wife Charity in prison for the murder of rapist Dr Todd (Caroline Harker) – a crime which was actually carried out by Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill). Sarah threw gran Charity under the bus when she discovered the truth about her own baby’s parentage. Enraged that Charity had lied to her, Sarah told the police Charity committed the crime in cold blood. Mack, meanwhile, has urged Sarah to change her statement back but even after he managed to make her see sense, he was told that Charity isn’t getting released – and that it’s likely a jury will decide her fate.
During the launch show, Lawrence was paired with professional dancer Jowita Przystał and they will take to the dancefloor for their first routine this Saturday. Strictly Come Dancing begins Saturday September 19 at 7:25pm on BBC One. Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 or stream from 7am on YouTube and ITVX.
