Emmerdale couple drop shock announcement as they secretly marry and move to Australia

There was some huge news about an couple on Thursday night in an unexpected announcement.

One former villager was confirmed to have emigrated to without telling any of her family. Not only that but just weeks earlier, she married her mystery new man Chris who she had been living with in .

The speedy and secret wedding meant no one knew and no one was invited, before the news came that the character had also moved to Australia and would not be returning. Sarah Sugden found this all out on Thursday, with her mother Debbie Dingle being the character involved.

Debbie married Chris without even inviting her daughter Sarah to the wedding. If that wasn't bad enough, she, Chris and Sarah's brother Jack then packed up and made a permanent move to Australia.

Debbie waited until she was already there to break the news to Sarah, and it seems she only even found out the truth because she'd wanted to confide in her mother. Sarah learned this week she may have cancer, and spoilers for next week confirm she will be diagnosed with cervical cancer.

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But as Sarah went to open up to her mum, not having told anyone else, Debbie got in there first and dropped the bombshell about the wedding and the move. Sarah was left reeling, soon telling her gran Charity Dingle, Debbie's mum, what she had found out.

The huge news about Debbie seems to rule out a future, possibly forever, for both Debbie and actress Charley Webb. Debbie had left for good in 2019, before making a short comeback to the show between 2020 and 2021, soon leaving again.

Viewers were stunned by the update, that seemed to be a very final exit for the character and the actress playing her. Charley had made it clear she had left the show a few years back after a brief comeback, with her moving onto other roles.

But fans had always hoped she'd be back, even after Debbie was a no-show for her grandfather Zak Dingle's funeral last year. News of Sarah's looming diagnosis left fans convinced now was the time for Debbie to return.

Instead, Sarah found out her mother had married someone new and moved to the other side of the all without telling her. With that it seems to be a final exit, ruling out Debbie ever coming back to the village.

Viewers picked up on this, taking to social media with one writing: "Ok so like Debbie is never coming back then not even as a recast." Another agreed: "So guess today’s episode is the final nail in the coffin and we won’t see Debbie in the village ever again. Shame I love the character and actress."

A third fan said: "That was… . But maybe it’s an attempt to explain in advance why there’s no return on the cards to support Sarah or Cain in upcoming storylines. She’s very, very far away, and obviously has made a conscious decision to cut her Dingle family out of her life. But it doesn’t really make any sense, character-wise: there was no rift, they were all visiting regularly, and she’d never abandon Sarah. But I suppose there had to be a really good reason for her continued absence given everything that is going on."

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on , , , , , and .