Emmerdale actor Oliver Farnworth has suggested that a recent sinister plot involving his character John Sugden was a deliberate nod to his time on Coronation Street. The storyline, which saw John holding Mackenzie Boyd hostage in a basement, mirrored a similar plot from Farnworth's previous role as Andy Carver on Corrie, where Andy was imprisoned by killer Pat Phelan.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Farnworth confirmed the parallel was intentional, building anticipation for the upcoming crossover episode between the two ITV soaps. He said: 'I think the great thing from Corrie and working with Connor McIntyre who played Phelan... Phelan put my character in a basement and I got to reciprocate that storyline with Mack. So I've been through that from his point of view, and now it's coming from the other side.'
Farnworth played Andy Carver on Coronation Street from 2014 to 2017, before the character was killed off by Phelan. Despite fan theories that John might actually be Andy in disguise, Farnworth confirmed that Andy is indeed dead. Joking about the possibility, he said: 'Jandy, shall we say Jandy? We've got Robron, let's have Jandy. I'll just play both like a split personality.'
The actor also teased that the crossover episode will feature more than one twist. 'I think by this point it's known there are big stunts involved that are filmed at night time. It looks stunning. That's the action part of it, but the human part of it, there's pathos, there's classic Corrie and Emmerdale humour, there's also huge twists. There's really huge twists and not just one,' he said.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
