ITV Emmerdale Sugden family tree as fans 'rumble' John Sugden lie

Emmerdale newcomer John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) made his bombshell arrival earlier this summer, as the long-lost son of Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby).

And it didn’t take long for him to make an impression on the village residents, leaving long-lost half-sister Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) stunned and sparking up an on-off romance with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller).

Aloof John has settled into village life - much to the delight of Victoria. However, this week, Victoria ended up snooping inside John’s van, where he had previously been living. Inside, she came across dog tags with ‘Aidan Moore’ stamped on them.

John soon caught her and was left fuming, demanding she keep out of his business before throwing her out. But during Tuesday’s episode (September 24) John apologised to Vic and revealed who Aidan Moore was.

According to John, Aidan was his best friend in the Army in Afghanistan. He recalled how they came across a young boy away and decided to play a game of football with him.

Unfortunately, Aidan was killed after a bomb was planted at their base - with John revealing he did his best to save Aidan but nothing could be done.

However, fans are not believing that John is telling the truth and think the 'real John Sugden' could be his dead Army mate with the newcomer stealing his identity.

As speculation and suspicion continues to grow around John, the Sugden family tree was recently explained. Jack Sugden, who died in 2009, has four children.

Jack had Jackie Merrick, who died in 1989, and Robert Sugden with late wife Pat Sugden, who died in 1986. Jack later had Victoria Sugden with second wife Sarah Sugden, who tragically died in 2000, and he also adopted Andy Sugden.

It has been revealed that newcomer John's mum is Barbara, who had a fling with Jack back in the day. Currently, out of Jack's children, it's only Victoria who still resides in the village but now with the arrival of John could there be more Sugden family members, especially with the mention of Aidan?

At the start of John's romance with Aaron, neither of them knew he was the brother of his ex-husband Robert. Soap watchers have been left delighted over the mention of Robert recently with many hoping the character could return.

Viewers will recall that Robert left the show back in 2019 after being sent to prison over the death of Lee Posner. Robert accidentally caused Lee's death after he attacked him, following Lee horrifically raping his sister Victoria. Robert faced up to his crime and cut all ties with the village and his loved ones as he was sentenced.

But viewers have long hoped he may return, especially after hints that Robert may not have caused his death. Lee obtained injuries to his head when he was punched, but it emerged Lee had also been hit by his brother Luke and that might have led to his death. And with Robert mentioned recently due to John's debut, viewers are hoping he could make a return.

Actor Ryan Hawley, who played Robert from 2014 to 2019, has had a busy few years since leaving the hit ITV soap. Ryan, 38, appeared in Silent Witness in 2021 as Michael Robson before going on to star as Sid Crabtree in All Creatures Great and Small. Earlier this year, Ryan took on the role of Jamie Cleveland in Casualty.

Meanwhile, longtime soap watchers will recall that Ryan wasn't the only actor to play the legendary character as Karl Davies portrayed the role from 2001 until 2009. Karl, 42, has starred in a slew of popular TV shows since leaving the ITV soap with him best known for his role as Daniel Cawood in Happy Valley.

Other roles include Viktor Proskuryakov in Chernobyl, Ronald Mallen in Call the Midwife, Carl McGregor in The Bay and viewers can currently catch Karl in hit ITV drama The Tower, where he plays DCI Tim Bailie.

Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 and ITVX at 7.30pm.