What happened between Ross Barton and Charity Dingle as troublemaker returns to Emmerdale?

Charity Dingle received the shock of her life when Ross Barton made a comeback to Emmerdale, years after the pair were briefly involved, resulting in the birth of her son Moses.

Mike Parr reprised his role in the ITV drama, appearing on Monday (October 28) as Billy Fletcher’s opponent in another unlicensed fight. This Tuesday, October 29, the pair of men went head to head while Mackenzie (played by Lawrence Robb), who had tagged along to support Billy (Jay Kontzle), spotted Moses in a corner, watching his father fight.

This was enough for Ross to lose focus and he was eventually knocked out by Billy. When he regained consciousness, Ross was furious to see Mack drag Moses back home and a confrontation led him to face Charity (Emma Atkins) for the first time since his exit in 2018.

Viewers of the Yorkshire-based programme will know that Ross and Charity share a brief history and have speculated the pair could wind up in another affair in upcoming scenes, with many adding this could end the Woolpack landlady’s marriage with Mackenzie.

Many TV watchers jumped on to Twitter, now X, to share their thoughts this Monday. “It’s 4years tomorrow that charity cheated on love of her life with mcrat I’m all for her cheating on said mcrat with ross @emmerdale #emmerdale #vanity”, one of them wrote, in reference to Charity’s former relationship with Vanessa Woodfield.

Another echoed: “Ross and Charity are deffo gonna sleep together!!! The dreaded marriage is gonna end #Emmerdale”, just as one soap fan penned: “I cannot wait for Ross and Charity scenes omg #emmerdale.”

Ross, who is the son of the late James and Emma Barton, first rocked up the eponymous village in July, 2013, and was introduced as a troublemaker in the Dales when he tried to hold Laurel Thomas and a crying Leo captive in her car. Though she managed to get away from him, Laurel was haunted by the assault and eventually tracked Ross down, which ultimately led him to have a family reunion with his loved ones in the village.

While he struggled to get rid of his bad reputation, Ross became increasingly accepted in Emmerdale when he saved Gabby Thomas from being hit by a car. In November, 2014, Ross found a job when Charity hired him for her illegal chop shop at Butlers Farm.

At some point, Ross and Charity had an off-screen one night stand, with the latter intent on making her then-husband Jai Sharma jealous, and this resulted in Moses’ birth in June, 2015. However, the baby’s paternity was another ordeal when Ross became infatuated with Charity’s daughter Debbie, who was then engaged to his brother Pete.

Debbie and Ross’ on-off relationship lasted several years but ultimately came to an end when they decided against giving things another go due to Sarah Dingle’s health issues. In 2018, Ross then left for a fresh start in Liverpool with Rebecca White and her own son Seb. But according to Mike Parr himself, his character may be brought to bond further with Charity.

Speaking about his return to Emmerdale and the possibility of rekindling with Charity, he said: “You really can’t hate somebody who’s doing a great job of raising your most beloved possession. But it’s Ross, and it’s Charity. There’s always going to be fireworks. They’ve got the history, but is there still a spark there?”

“And does Ross want to rekindle? Or is he just doing it because there’s a stepfather role in Moses’ life now, and that is obviously not going to play well with Ross.”