ITV Emmerdale confirms shock exit as Gus sentenced to eight years in prison after ‘set-up’

Emmerdale’s Gus Malcolms’ future was revealed on the ITV soap on Wednesday it seems, with bad news for the character.

The character was blindsided when his ex Rhona Goskirk turned on him in court, with her “unable to lie for him” after months of torment. Her statement no doubt encouraged his disastrous sentencing in court, with him sentenced to eight years in prison, before being led away by officers.

While it’s not known if this was his final scene it certainly confirmed an exit for the character thanks to Rhona’s damning statement, leaving villagers reeling. Gus had been charged after using frozen embryos that belonged to him and Rhona when they were married years earlier, without Rhona’s permission to use them.

She thought they had been destroyed decades ago, and when Gus shared his plans to use them with new wife Lucy she refused to give permission. He forged Rhona’s signature though and Lucy fell pregnant, but sadly she died during Ivy’s birth.

Since then Rhona has been keen to help raise her biological daughter, but Gus tried to flee to France with Ivy behind Rhona’s back resulting in Rhona taking her. Their battle for Ivy resulted in Rhona facing charges of kidnapping, before eventually being cleared.

The same could not be said for Gus who had made slight amends with Rhona this week, fearing who would be there for Ivy if he was sent down. Rhona was asked to read a statement out in court, in the hope it would lessen his sentence for fraud.

But when the time came Rhona turned on Gus and used the moment to expose him for his cruel behaviour. The theft, stolen identity and plans to take Ivy away from her, and the fact he hadn’t even told her about Lucy being pregnant at the start, all led to Rhona breaking down in court.

She told the judge exactly what had gone on and the impact it had had on her and her family. She even shared her hopes for him to be locked away, and soon enough Gus was called out for his behaviour, and given a custodial sentence of eight years.

Gus was left reeling as the judge ordered for him to be taken away there and then, with his freedom gone. As he left the court he asked Rhona: “How could you?” realising he had lost Ivy and would spend years behind bars, after Rhona’s damning statement sealed the deal.

Speaking on Lorraine this week, Rhona actress Zoe Henry teased the twist and shared: “It’s one of those storylines that doesn’t have a blueprint of how to play it or find your way through it. So I’ve had to go with my gut instinct and being a parent and working off of that.

“It’s been great fun to play, we’ve had such a wonderful journey with it. I think what’s interesting about it is like when we’re on set and we talk about it, nobody’s a winner, nobody’s a baddie, and actually Rhona has behaved badly in this storyline too. It’s an instinct and that’s what I’ve had to base where Rhona is coming from. This maternal instinct has kicked in.”

She added: “She put having more kids to bed; she had a hysterectomy five years ago. It’s like a ghost of Christmas past when the baby she thought would never happen is here. It’s been great having a baby back on set too.”