Emmerdale confirm why Robert Sugden’s free from prison in return twist

Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden returned to stop Aaron Dingle and John Sugden’s wedding before then confessing he was still in love with his ex husband.

Actor Ryan Hawley reprised his role in the ITV soap as Robert, six years after his departure in 2019. As viewers may recall, Robert handed himself into the police after Lee Posner’s d.e.a.t.h, as a consequence of defending his sister Victoria from a horrific assault by Lee.

During the six years, Aaron only found love again recently with Robert’s half-brother, John. The pair have had a whirlwind romance and were ready to say “I do”.

However, John has a fair few secrets buried as he accidentally killed Nate Robinson and caused his ex-fiancé Aidan Moore to be in a d.e.a.d.l.y coma.

As Robert showed up to stop the wedding, Aaron was confused with his arrival and went to confront him.

Robert wasted no time in stating his intentions, as he said: “Every single second I was inside, I never stopped being in love with you.”

Aaron was upset as he responded: “You turned yourself in, you cut everyone off, you cut me off!… I swore to you that I’d be there for you and you threw it back in my face. I didn’t even know what to do anymore.”

As he told Robert it took him “ages to get past it”, Robert replied: “I didn’t think this would ever happen again either. Just me and you, like this.

“I know I don’t have a right to walk back into your life, but if I don’t have a chance with you, then I might as well be back there. ‘Cause right now that’s all I’ve got.”

“We can be that again Aaron, just you and me. Us. I know we can. That’s all I want Aaron”, he added.

The pair then shared a kiss, and while Aaron tried to fight it at first, he decided he couldn’t resist. Chas Dingle then interrupted the former couple, announcing that she saw everything.

Knowing that Robert was sentenced to prison for his crime, many fans assumed he’d be back as part of a dream sequence of John’s.

However, actor Ryan Hawley previously teased that he’s “back for good”, and during Thursday’s (29th May) episode, Robert explained how he ended up out of prison.

He told Aaron: “You already know that Lee got into a fight with his brother and hit his head on the day that I attacked him. If that hadn’t happened, he might not have died when I did what I did.”

Aaron was upset as he expressed that Victoria tried telling him this previously so that he could appeal, to which Robert responded: “A few years locked in a cell with only my thoughts for company, I kind of changed my mind. Took a while, but here I am. Sentence released on appeal”.

He then added that he didn’t tell anyone because he was scared of getting his hopes up, or anyone else’s, and confirmed he found out about the wedding through social media.

What does this mean for Robert and Aaron, and how far will John go to keep his relationship?