Emmerdale fans 'work out' Christmas return after Ross Barton comeback

Emmerdale enthusiasts were taken aback this week when Ross Barton, portrayed by Michael Parr, made a sensational comeback after being absent for six years.

However, the scenes left fans scratching their heads, wondering about the location of Rebecca White, played by Emily Head. Viewers will recall that Ross departed the village with Rebecca in 2018 to embark on a new life in Liverpool.

Michael Parr first graced the popular ITV soap in 2013, and his character Ross was notorious for his stormy relationships with characters such as Debbie Dingle, played by Charley Webb.

He soon embarked on a love affair with Rebecca in 2017, but around the same time, she also had a liaison with Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) while Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) was incarcerated.

Rebecca discovered she was expecting and was uncertain about the biological father of her child until it was confirmed that Robert was the father, reports .

Despite their intermittent romance, Ross and Rebecca reignited their relationship in 2018 following Ross' dreadful acid attack due to mistaken identity.

Later in 2018, Ross exited the village with Rebecca and her son Sebastian to start afresh in Liverpool. However, with Ross now back in the village without Rebecca, he later revealed that she had passed away and he didn't have custody of Seb as he wasn't his biological son.

Now, Emmerdale viewers are speculating that Robert Sugden will return in pursuit of his son following Rebecca's demise.

Robert Sugden was wedded to Aaron but is currently serving a prison sentence for manslaughter.

Robert Sugden, portrayed by actor Ryan Hawley, left fans reeling following a dramatic turn of events that ended with his attack on Lee Posner (Kris Mochrie) after the latter raped Robert's sister Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins). The intense showdown led to a punch that landed Lee in the hospital and eventually, his demise.

Excitement buzzes among fans on Reddit, where one eagle-eyed viewer speculated a gripping plot twist, suggesting: "So Rebecca is dead and Seb is living with a relative and Robert doesn't know. What if once he finds out he decides to finally use the information that Vic gave him to appeal his conviction?".

This fan engaged in wishful thinking, adding: "Not that I think it would legally be possible but it is soap so who cares. With the Aaron/John drama this could get very interesting."

Meanwhile, another devotee put forth their conviction, saying: "Yeah I'm like 80% convinced he might be the Christmas return and if not he'll probably be back at some point next year. There's no reason to kill Rebecca off otherwise. Her and Ross could've just split up and that would be that."

They further speculated: "With his sentence, he's probably served about half of it now so they could just say he got out on good behaviour or something."

Anticipation grows as yet another fan articulated their hunch, remarking: "I have a feeling this is definitely leading to Robert's return."

Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV and ITVX