Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) faces a bit of a bombshell in upcoming Emmerdale episodes, when he hears from Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) that Charity (Emma Atkins) is planning to be a surrogate for Sarah (Katie Hill) and Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant)’s baby.

When Sarah recently had a hysterectomy she was devastated to realise she would now never achieve her dream of having a baby of her own.

Knowing how much this meant to his granddaughter, Cain (Jeff Hordley) suggested surrogacy but because of Sarah having a life-limiting illness, surrogacy agencies wouldn’t consider her.

So Charity offered to carry a baby for her granddaughter, but crucially didn’t mention this to her husband Mack.

‘I think that in a way is such a huge deceitful thing to do when you’re married to someone, to not discuss that beforehand,’ Emma Atkins told us.

‘Charity has been so ultimately selfish doing that, but she’s done it for the right reasons, in one respect. She says from the start, there’s no point getting everyone restless until she knows if she even could carry a child for Sarah.’

There are big emotional issues at play for Mackenzie, of course, as Emma pointed out.

‘There’s so many complexities there with what they’ve been through on their own journey with pregnancy and the ectopic pregnancy that happened between them both.

‘There’s a lot of emotional scarring and wounds there for them both that they probably have pushed under a carpet and they’re not really discussing because Charity made the decision that she didn’t want to have another baby, and so I think that will create a lot of tension and resentment, and we’ll probably see that play out in the not too distant future.’

When Mack confronts Charity about these issues she sticks to her guns, determined to help Sarah.