The ‘Time Twist’ week on Emmerdale has brought an angle to an old character that has jarred with viewers.
Jack Sugden is an Emmerdale icon and fans of the show were dismayed when his son Robert revealed that he was abused by him.
There was anger in homes across the country as those watching took to social media to bemoan that Jack’s character had been ‘ruined’ by the slur.
The big reveal happened during Robert’s emotional coming out speech to his boyfriend Aaron Dingle.
REPLAY: Robert’s heartbreaking coming out speech…#NoReturn #Emmerdale pic.twitter.com/tkoILfr30G
— Emmerdale (@emmerdale) 17 October 2016
Robert admitted that he had always found it hard to come out in the past and that Jack had struck him once when he found Robert with a farm hand.
Viewers were upset though when Robert admitted Jack “leathered him” and they spoke out on Twitter as they remembered Jack to be a considerate man.
One viewer thinks Robert is lying and slammed Emmerdale for ruining Jack’s name.
Another was furious at what they termed, “one of the worst episodes” of Emmerdale and labelled the soap as “disgraceful”.
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It was also pointed out that Jack never had an issue with Robert and it was always Andy, who was adopted, that he had failed to see eye-to-eye with.
The good news for fans of Robert and Aaron was that it finally looks like ‘Robron’ will become a couple in the eyes of the law as well as in their hearts.
Robert was looking to propose to Aaron before they had a heart-to-heart in the woods.
It was here that Robert confessed to Jack beating on him.
He said: “I was always the disappointment with my dad.
“We had this lad help on the farm. He caught us in my room.
“He sacked him and leathered me and I never talked about it again.
“He said it was for skiving but he couldn’t look at me for weeks so I knew what it was for.
“I was 15. Nobody knows, not Diane, or Vic.”
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Robert continued: “He wasn’t [abusive]. He just didn’t want a son like me. So I buried it.
“I spent all this time, years trying to be the person he wanted me to be and I just want to be myself now, with you.”
Just as it looked like Robron will be together for ever, the episode finished abruptly with the pair on the verge of crashing their car.
Will they survive ‘Time Twist’ week? It looks like they will come out of it better than Jack Sugden.