Emmerdale characters don’t come much cuter than little Archie Breckle.
In Emmerdale he now lives with his dad Jai Sharma after a chaotic and unhappy start to his young life.
So who was his mother? And what happened to her?
Emmerdale characters: Who is Archie’s mum?
Back in 2012, Archie’s dad Jai Sharma was married to Charity Dingle and the pair were having trouble in their relationship. Jai wanted a baby and Charity didn’t.
So after a drunken one-night stand with factory cleaner Rachel Breckle, Jai was delighted when she found out she was pregnant.
He convinced her to keep the baby, and promised to support her. Although he had no intention of telling Charity what he’d been up to!
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At first, Jai put Rachel up in a flat in Leeds.
But when she missed her sister Ali and other friends in the village, she came back to Emmerdale and Jai bought Tenant House – where Liam Cavanagh lives now – for her to live in.
What happened when Archie was born?
Tiny Archie was born in December 2012 prematurely, after Rachel had an argument with Charity Dingle and went into labour early.
He spent time in the NICU and Rachel struggled with the idea of being a mum.
Sam Dingle helped her cope and the pair began a relationship.
Jai, who wanted to keep the truth about him being Archie’s dad a secret, resented Sam being close to his son.
Charity began to suspect and confronted her husband. But his dad, Rishi, covered for Jai and said he was the dad instead.
How was the truth revealed in Emmerdale?
Sam was the first one to work out Archie’s true parentage when an accident with some fireworks put the little lad in hospital, and Jai was more worried about the tot than Rishi was.
Charity soon put two and two together too and, though she tried to get past it, she couldn’t.
Things got even messier when Charity and Jai’s best friend Declan Macey struck up a friendship.
They set fire to Home Farm, made it look like Sam was to blame, and Rachel ended up going on the run with her son.
Why did Rachel return to Emmerdale?
In 2015, Rachel came back to Emmerdale to give evidence at Charity’s trial. Jai, who was by now married to Megan Macey, played very dirty in order to get custody of the little boy.
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He was determined to discredit Rachel and make her look bad, so he could leave the village with Archie and his mistress, Leyla Harding.
And he got very nasty about it. He even planted drugs in Rachel’s house and tipped off the police.
In the end, though Jai’s evil plans backfired and he lost custody of the little lad, who went to live in Liverpool with his mum.
For a while he thought he had his son back but he had been duped by a conman who’d let Jai care for a different little boy.
How did Rachel die?
In 2019, Jai found out Rachel had died unexpectedly.
A shocked Archie came back to the village and moved in with Jai.
But Arthur Thomas – son of Jai’s new partner Laurel – resented the way the younger boy had become part of their family.
Arthur started bullying poor Archie and when Laurel found out, she covered for her son, driving a wedge between her and Jai.
The lads pretended to be friends but continued their feud until a horrifying fire at Rishi’s birthday celebrations put them and their families in danger.
Want more on Emmerdale and its characters?
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Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays. You can also catch up on the ITV Hub.
Will the boys put their differences behind them now? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.