Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) has found herself in, perhaps, her biggest mess yet – and that’s quite the mean feat for someone who’s caused as much chaos in Emmerdale as she has!

It all started out so altruistically, too. When it became crystal clear that surrogacy agencies would be unwilling to help Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill) on her journey to have a baby due to her fanconi anemia diagnosis, grandma Charity stepped up.

The first embryo transfer failed when Charity suffered a fall in the woods, though Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) stepped in to finance another one, which proved to be successful.

Following an almighty argument with husband Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) (who promptly ‘vanished’), Charity did what Charity does and hit the self-destruct button. First, she attempted to throw the lips on ex-girlfriend Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick), and when that failed, she slept with Ross Barton (Michael Parr) prior to the implantation, and now has no idea who’s baby she’s carrying!

Ross is like a dog with a bone, fully aware that the baby is potentially his and Charity’s lies about a paternity test that proves otherwise are doing very little to keep him at bay.

Next week, Charity sees the baby for the first time after Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) surprised both her and Sarah with an early ultrasound. When asked how she copes, Emma said: ‘She’s just in the most awkward, inappropriate situation and she can’t tell anyone.’

On having to keep such an enormous secret, Emma added: ‘She’s having to hide all of this stuff and put on these fake smiles.’

‘There is an element of feeling really empowered that she is able to carry this child for Sarah, and now she’s being met with the dilemma that it might possibly not be Sarah’s.’

‘There’s that real heartache of, ‘What if she found out and it isn’t hers?’ It’s that bittersweet of, ‘Oh my God, what do I actually do with knowing all of this?’ She can’t function at the moment because she’s so full of emotions for so many different reasons. There’s so many layers at play that I think she’s just in total turmoil.’

Sarah and Jacob are determined to be a part of every step of the pregnancy, meaning Charity’s brave face is having to work overtime. ‘She’s feeling the intensity of it, and she’s trying to let them be excited, but she’s getting so irritable. And the irritability is really coming through with all the green smoothies she’s being forced to drink, vitamins she’s being told to take.’

On the relentless nature of her granddaughter’s interference, Emma said: ‘she’s got it all around her, every way she goes, Sarah’s there with a green smoothie. Jacob’s just behind Sarah, they’re looking at prams, it’s so intense, and it’s exacerbating what’s already there in Charity’s inner turmoil. It’s just making her snap, and then she feels really guilty.’

When asked if Charity feels any regret about agreeing to the surrogacy plan, Emma said: ‘I think she just feels at this point that, ‘Why does it matter who the real biological mother and father is?’