Gabby Thomas collapsed on Sunday night's episode of Emmerdale, launching a new issue-based storyline on the ITV soap. The waitress, played by Rosie Bentham since 2016, has become obsessed with food quality and anti-medicine in recent weeks.
In the latest episode, Gabby listened to social media videos claiming healthy foods are harmful, and Dawn found her collapsed on the floor. A doctor ruled out pregnancy, and Gabby revealed to Manpreet how little she eats.
Gabby's Confrontation with Dawn
Later, Gabby told Dawn she stopped taking the pill, calling medicines 'packed full of chemicals' harmful to the body. Dawn raised the alarm with her partner Billy. When Gabby found out, she raged: 'How dare you! Billy's told me you were practically wetting yourself to tell him that I'm not on the pill any more. You just can't handle the fact that you're not the centre of his world any more.' Dawn ignored the insult, expressing concern.
Still furious, Gabby visited Dawn's fiance Joe, claiming his partner 'still has a thing' for Billy. She said: 'She's having secret meetings with Billy behind my back. Trying to stir the pot, get in between us. And I have to say to myself, why on earth would she want to do that? So I really think you should probably ask yourself the same question.'
Orthorexia Storyline
The storyline explores orthorexia, an eating disorder where individuals become fixated on food quality rather than quantity. Reacting online, fans were divided. One Reddit user wrote: 'Orthorexia is a serious illness and while I do support them raising awareness about it, they're again not doing an issue-based plot justice. They're again making the central character in the storyline (in this case Gabby) come off as too unlikable and unsympathetic just like Cain in the prostate cancer storyline. I can guarantee you viewers came out of today's episode siding with Dawn and not feeling bad for Gabby. I certainly did.'
Another said: 'Gabby has “Orthorexia”….nope Id never heard of it either.' A third wrote: 'I’m loving this feud again build up between gabby and dawn.' A fourth commented: 'I take issue with issue based stories that make characters deeply unlikeable. I ended up being Team Dawn today. I think Thomas will be the one who ends up seriously sick either not taking medicine for a sickness or the food will give him deficiencies. I can't stand Gabby in this, she is being written to be deeply unlikeable when the story should be more effective.'
If you're worried about your health or somebody else's, you can contact SEED eating disorder support service on 01482 718130 or on their website. Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
