Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden reveals heartbreaking family secret of how dad Jack beat him after discovering he was bisexual
The son of Emmerdale favourite Jack Sugden admitted what his dad did to him after he caught him with another boy
Jack Sugden was an Emmerdale legend, but viewers might not think of him that way anymore.
In an emotional scene in Monday night's episode, his son Robert broke down as he admitted why he always struggled to come out and didn't tell anyone he was bisexual until he met Aaron Dingle.
"I was always the disappointment with my dad," he told Aaron after being pushed to talk about his feelings and why he was uncomfortable being bisexual.
Revealing dad Jack once caught him with a boy when he was a teenager, Robert tearfully confessed how Jack beat him over it and wouldn't look at him for weeks.
"We had this lad help on the farm. He caught us in my room. He sacked him and leathered me and I never talked about it again.
"He said it was skiving but he couldn't look at me for weeks so I knew what it was for. I was 15. Nobody knows, not Diane, or Vic.
"He wasn't [abusive]. He just didn't want a son like me. So I buried it.
"I spent all this time, years trying to be the person he wanted me to be and I just want to be myself now, with you."
The pair then got back into the car, and after a near miss with the police, had a tiff about the secret Robert was hiding.
But as the couple rowed, Robert lost his temper and angrily told Aaron he was planning on proposing to him.
Brandishing the ring, he shouted: "For you, you idiot. So I could ask you to marry me."
Then the pair saw something coming in the distance and braced themselves for disaster, which could be just around the corner.
- Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV
Got a story? email [email protected] or call us direct on 02077824220