When it was revealed that Emmerdale was introducing Charity Dingle’s secret son, soap fans were shocked.
But now fans of the ITV soap think they have worked out his identity and if the shocking theory is true it would be one of the most explosive storylines in soap history.
It was revealed earlier this week that Charity will be forced to relive her teenage rape trauma when her secret son makes himself known.
A source told The Sun: “Charity’s entire world will be rocked when her son is introduced in the New Year.
Read more: Emmerdale SPOILER: Charity’s rape hell revealed in devastating New Year plot
“Things have settled for her in terms of her personal life after three kids and as many husbands but this will change everything again.
“She gave up her son, which she’s never revealed before, just days after he was born because he was conceived during a rape. It is going to open up a load of old heartbreak for her.”
But now viewers are convinced that the secret son is already in the show – and sleeping with his sister.
The theory goes that Tom Waterhouse’s real secret isn’t that he is behind the golf course that is threatening to Dingle family farm, but that he is Charity’s son.
Much has been made about multi-millionaire Tom being an orphan with only his butler for family.
One fan wrote on DSForums: “It’s obviously going to be Tom Waterhouse.”
Another added: “If this Tom really is Charity’s son, then he’s absolutely despicable. Different if he had no idea they were siblings, but if he knows, and has seduced her in spite of that – that’s pretty sick.”
However, a third said: “It surely cannot be Tom, that would mean he has been sleeping with his sister.”
Read more: Emmerdale star says fan favourite’s shock exit will leave a “massive void”
This isn’t a new storyline for the show as in 2002 Debbie Dingle arrived in the village as the daughter Charity gave up after she gave birth to her when she was just 13.
Debbie’s birth saw Charity thrown out onto the streets, eventually becoming a teenage sex worker before a horrific experience with an evil policeman left her broken.
How will she cope when her son makes himself known in the village?