Charity Dingle on Emmerdale: teen pregnancy, Mark Bails rape ordeal, romance with Vanessa, and k.i.l.l.i.n.g Damon Harris

In Emmerdale, Charity Dingle has lived a very turbulent life since first setting foot in the village in 2000.

From her prior love of an illegal scam and rich men, Charity has evolved into a somewhat responsible woman. Now at the centre of the village as the landlady of the Woolpack, Emmerdale wouldn’t be the same without her.

Here is a recap of the iconic character’s history.

Teen pregnancy for Charity Dingle in Emmerdale

Charity arrived in the village in March 2000 for her cousin Butch’s funeral. From the start, it was clear to see that she was a whirlwind and a force to be reckoned with.

As her past was explored, it was revealed that she’d had a baby with her second cousin Cain Dingle when she’d been just 13. The daughter, Debbie, was given up for adoption.

But fate intervened. When Debbie’s adoptive mother fell ill, Debbie just happened to be placed in foster care in the same village her birth mum lived in.

When Debbie shared a photo of her birth mum with Cain, he was shocked to realise it was Charity. Charity was initially a reluctant mother, but soon her and Debbie bonded. Debbie later moved into Home Farm with Charity and her rich husband Chris Tate.

Framed for m.u.r.d.e.r

As Cain and Charity grew closer over their relationship with Debbie, Chris grew increasingly jealous. Chris started to take his anger out on Debbie, resulting in her going to live with the Dingles.

Charity and Cain soon begun an affair. When Chris found out, he chucked Charity out of Home Farm. Chris soon discovered he had a brain tumour and decided to end his own life.

However, his final act of revenge was to frame Charity for m.u.r.d.e.r. Charity was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to life in prison. While behind bars, she gave birth to her and Chris’s son Noah.

Charity was later released from jail after Chris’s sister Zoe presented evidence that Chris had in fact taken his own life. Zoe supplied this evidence after making a deal with Charity that she’d get her out of jail if she could adopt Noah. But Zoe’s adoption application was rejected and Noah stayed with Charity.

Disastrous marriages to Jai and Declan

Despite interference from Jai’s brother Nikhil and Charity’s jealous former partner Cain, Jai and Charity managed to tie the knot in 2012. But the marriage quickly begun to struggle when Charity told Jai she didn’t want any more children.

As a result, Jai had a one night stand with Rachel. The marriage finally came to an end when Charity noticed how close Jai was to Rachel’s baby Archie and realised that he was in fact Archie’s father.

With the ink barely dry on the divorce papers, Charity married Declan Macey in 2014, making her queen of Home Farm once again. But the relationship was full of lies. After falling pregnant, Charity lied that she’d had a miscarriage during an altercation with Declan’s sister Megan.

Declan was the dramatic type and decided this kind of betrayal could only be punished by m.u.r.d.e.r. But instead of shooting Charity, he accidentally shot and k.i.l.l.e.d his nephew Robbie instead.

Rape Ordeal

Charity’s youth was traumatic. Following her teen pregnancy, Charity ended up on the streets working as a prostitute. During this time, she came across policeman Mark Bails.

He ended up abusing and raping Charity, as well as pimping her out to his friends. When she was just 14, she gave birth to another child – who we now know to be Ryan Stocks.

Years later, Charity met DI Bails again when he tried to have her convicted for fraud. Charity decided she couldn’t allow him to harm anyone else, so she found the courage to report Bails to the police.

In court, Charity was forced to retell her entire history, including the time he laughed at her when she asked him to stop raping her. Bails was found guilty on multiple counts and given 30 years in prison.

Romance with Vanessa

While Charity previously explored a same-sex relationship with Zoe Tate, it was her relationship with Vanessa Woodfield that fans really brought into. They even earned the nickname ‘Vanity.’

Charity’s barriers came down with Vanessa and she even proposed to her twice – on the second time her girlfriend said yes.

Charity supported Vanessa through her battle against cancer and officially adopted her son, Johnny. But the old Charity resurfaced and, letting paranoia get in the way, Charity ended up snogging a stranger she’d met on the side of the road.

Vanessa dumped Charity and left the village. Although she later returned, she couldn’t forget the betrayal. Though fans continue to push for a Vanity reunion.

Love triangle and Damon Harris m.u.r.d.e.r

After falling for Mackenzie Boyd, Charity found herself in a love triangle after he got Chloe pregnant. Despite marrying Charity, after Mack was outed as Reuben’s father, he decided to begin a relationship with Chloe. But the feelings between Mack and Charity remained.

This all came to a head during a famous Emmerdale stunt scene, when Mack chose to save Charity over Chloe, when the car they were in was dangerously close to falling off a cliff.

Unfortunately for Mack, Chloe’s dad Damon ‘Harry’ Harris was a notable gangster and he took Mack hostage. Charity trailed Harry to a derelict warehouse where she saw his gun in hand ready to k.i.l.l Mack. She attempted to wrestle the gun from Harry, but in the altercation it went off, k.i.l.l.i.n.g Harry.

In the aftermath, Charity had nightmares over k.i.l.l.i.n.g Harry. In her confused state she almost ended up committing another m.u.r.d.e.r after stabbing Mack.

Who plays Charity Dingle in Emmerdale?

The fabulous Emma Atkins plays Charity, whose current storylines have seen her feel guilty for driving the limo which caused three d.e.a.t.h.s and trying to discover what Joe Tate is up to.

Emma has had this role from 2000. Though both Emma and Charity were off screen for four years from 2005, before returning in 2009.

During this break, Emma appeared in Doctors, Heartbeat, Casualty and Dalziel and Pascoe.