Emmerdale star Ryan Hawley has disclosed the lengths he went to in order to keep Robert Sugden's return under wraps. The actor, who originally joined the ITV soap in 2014, made a shock comeback at the wedding of his former husband Aaron Dingle to John Sugden, halting the ceremony.
Speaking on Thursday's edition of Lorraine, Hawley explained that the production team went to great lengths to maintain secrecy. "We had our driver Howard bring me into a secret entrance to avoid all of the fans at the gates," he said. "I'd turn up on set and people didn't even know it was me who was back... I was Marco in the script."
Hawley revealed that co-star Danny Miller played a key role in his return. "I got a call from Danny being like 'how do you feel about coming back', he asked me a few times and Emmerdale asked me a few times. It was never kind of the right time... This time everything aligned, the story was great."
Robert's return is described as 'indefinite', with Hawley hinting at a turbulent future. "Robert is back in the village, he's trying to win Aaron back and put a stop to John. He's going to try. Everyone's like 'we don't want anything to do with you Robert, go back'," he said.
Since leaving Emmerdale in 2019, Hawley has appeared in All Creatures Great and Small and Casualty. Reflecting on his return, he said: "It was hard to go... It's been a long time, six years and I'm like 'this is amazing'. I almost forgot about it."
