John Sugden in Emmerdale: Romantic hero or secret k.i.l.l.e.r – from the Aidan Moore mystery to all the secrets he’s keeping

John Sugden has never been what you’d call enthusiastic about becoming a resident of Emmerdale. He was reluctant to get to know his half-sister Victoria, cautious about starting a romance with Aaron, and generally kept everyone at arm’s length.

Gradually, though, the good people of Emmerdale persuaded him (or perhaps wore him down!) that it was a good place to be. He took a job at the surgery, moved in with Aaron, and now they’re engaged.

Except John’s keeping some big secrets. He didn’t tell anyone he’d been in the army for ages, took a long time to explain his connection to Aidan Moore – whose dog tag he had – and he was very competent at getting rid of Anthony’s body.

Now his background is about to be explained. And we can’t wait!

So we thought we’d recap everything we know about him so far.

Who is John Sugden in Emmerdale?

John is Victoria Sugden’s half brother.

She met him when she drove Eric Pollard to the funeral of an old friend called Barbara.

Victoria ended up chatting to the son of the dead woman and to her surprise he introduced himself as John Sugden! As Victoria reeled from the shock of finding a new family member, Eric explained her dad, Jack, had a fling with John’s mum Barbara in the late 1980s.

She got pregnant but didn’t tell Jack. So while young John grew up knowing who his real dad was, but Jack d.i.e.d without ever knowing John existed.

John being Jack’s son makes him the half-brother of Victoria, Robert and the late Jackie Merrick, and the adoptive half-brother of Andy.

Aaron and John

John met Aaron before he even met his sister Vic, or nephew. The pair enjoyed a steamy hook-up after Aaron helped John mend his van.

Though they tried to resist their mutual attraction at first, they eventually gave in and became an item – quietly to begin with, and then publicly.

Their relationship got more serious when they went on a camping trip together. The pair opened up to one another with Aaron telling his new boyfriend about his abuse by his dad, Gordon.

And John told Aaron about his time in the army, where he was a trained medic. While he was in the army, John grew close to Aidan Moore, another man in his unit.

The pair fell in love and started a secret relationship. But things ended in tragedy when Aidan d.i.e.d while he and John were in Afghanistan.

Now Aaron and John live together and they recently got engaged. But fans are still convinced John’s not told Aaron the whole truth about his background.

John and Anthony

Back in January the truth came out about Anthony Fox abusing his daughter, Ruby. Aaron put two and two together and worked out what had happened to poor Ruby.

He ended up beating Anthony to a pulp and thinking he’d k.i.l.l.e.d him. Of course we know now that Ruby had been the one to finish him off, but Aaron and John didn’t know that.

John stepped in to help his fella. He headed to where Aaron had left John and he got rid of the body. Or so he said.

As Aaron struggled with his guilt, and Caleb tried to frame his nephew for the crime, things got trickier.

John kept the location of Anthony’s remains a secret for ages, until he eventually gathered the whole m.u.r.d.e.r gang and revealed where the abuser’s grave was. He warned everyone to keep quiet and stick together otherwise they’d get found out.

What’s John’s secret?

But John’s calm approach to disposing of a corpse, his matter-of-fact acceptance of being involved in a m.u.r.d.e.r and his general quiet, watchful manner has piqued the fans’ interest.

They reckon he’s a serial k.i.l.l.e.r who k.i.l.l.e.d Nate Robinson. Or that he didn’t k.i.l.l Anthony at all and he’s keeping him hostage somewhere.

Or perhaps he could be an undercover police officer – after all, it was John who told the cops about the unlicensed boxing that Ross and Billy were involved in.

Some people think he’s not really John Sugden, or that he’s a secret Tate working with Joe to harvest organs!

Thankfully, we won’t have long to wait. John’s secrets will all be revealed on screen in flashbacks, this week!

Who plays John Sugden?

John is played by Oliver Farnworth. He was already familiar to soap fans having played Andy Carver in Coronation Street. He’s also been in Mr Selfridge, The Royal and Hollyoaks.