7 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 23rd to 27th June

Next week on Emmerdale, tragedy strikes during Sarah’s surgery, Joe finds himself targeted, Tracy bans the Dingles from Nate’s funeral, and will Robert escape John’s clutches?

1) Robert struggles with his guilt

Life outside prison is already proving much harder than Robert (Ryan Hawley) anticipated, following his surprise return to the village last week.

Robert had already shown up after a six-year absence a couple of weeks back, in order to interrupt ex-husband Aaron’s (Danny Miller) wedding to John (Oliver Farnworth), but promptly found himself back inside after missing his probation appointment.

A later prison visit from John, where Robert could see a dark side to his half-brother emerging, only fuelled his determination to split the newly-married couple.

Finally released again this week, Robert dropped in on Aaron and John and told them he intended to stick around and spend time with the family. 

Staying with sister Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) and young nephew Harry at Keepers Cottage, Robert admitted that he hadn’t been sleeping well due to suffering from nightmares.

Later having a nap on the sofa, Robert was in the midst of another bad dream when Victoria went to wake him up.

Disorientated and in a panic, Robert lashed out and accidentally hit Victoria.

Next week, Robert is wracked with guilt over Vic’s black eye. He makes the decision to move out to keep his loved ones safe—but Vic is more worried about Robert’s wellbeing than her own injury.

Meanwhile, John is continuing his crusade to drive Robert out of the village for good. He wasn’t happy when he learned that Caleb (William Ash) had given Robert a trial working at the depot, and next week makes it clear that he wants it brought to a swift end.

As John piles on the pressure, Caleb reluctantly complies and gives Robert a cover story as to why he can’t take him on after all.

Whilst Robert sees through the vague excuse, it’s Jai (Chris Bisson) who unknowingly lets slip that John was behind it.

But as he goes to confront his brother, it’s Robert who ends up facing John’s wrath, now that he’s seen Vic’s black eye.

Determined to get rid of Robert, John later urges Vic to report him to the police for hitting her.

Robert, who happens to overhear the conversation, is devastated to learn just how far John is willing to go. Hoping for some backup, he turns to Aaron, but is left crushed when Aaron refuses to help.

With support in short supply, how long will it be before Robert reaches breaking point?

2) Will Robert escape John’s clutches?

Still reeling, Robert tries to throw himself into booze and meaningless flings in an attempt to numb the pain—but it’s clear nothing’s working.

When he meets a potential hook-up at The Hide—Owen (Simon Haines)—Robert pointedly kisses him in sight of Aaron, hoping to make him jealous and provoke a reaction. But Aaron barely bats an eyelid.

Things take a darker turn when Owen goes on to secretly spike Robert’s drink—and it’s John, of all people, who sees it happening and steps up to stop the attack progressing any further.

With Robert now unconscious, John loads him into the back of his van and drives off.

As Robert lies motionless, John stares down at him, syringe in hand, and it becomes painfully clear that he might not be planning on helping at all.

This could be his chance to get rid of his meddling brother once and for all…

When Robert finally comes to, he’s groggy and trapped in the back of the van with no clue how he got there… but where is John and what is he planning?

3) Jacob makes Sarah a surprising offer

Elsewhere in the village, despite her recent cervical cancer diagnosis, Sarah’s (Katie Hill) main priority continues to be her hope of pushing forward with IVF following the surgery. 

Although gran Charity (Emma Atkins) had discovered Sarah’s IVF plans, and even put up for funds for it, Sarah had only divulged her illness to ex-boyfriend Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant). 

Immediately after accompanying Sarah to an appointment at the IVF clinic to harvest her eggs, Charity answered a phone call from the hospital on Sarah’s phone, presuming it to be the clinic.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be the oncology department, and Sarah was forced to admit her diagnosis to her gran, explaining that she would be having surgery the following week.

Although grandad Cain (Jeff Hordley) also now knows the truth about Sarah’s cancer, he is still in the dark about the IVF plans… until Jacob puts his foot in it next week!

When Jacob lets slip about the IVF, presuming it to be common knowledge amongst the family now, Cain is left reeling.

The realisation that Jacob’s more up to speed with Sarah’s life than he is doesn’t sit well, and it isn’t long before Cain’s temper flares.

Sarah arrives just in time to catch her grandad threatening Jacob, and any hope of a calm conversation is instantly derailed. Instead of sharing in her excitement, Cain’s knee-jerk reaction puts him at odds with Sarah.

As she later confides in Jacob, Sarah admits Cain’s disapproval has shaken her confidence in her plan to go ahead with IVF.

Jacob is left thoughtful as he offers reassurance, but he later goes on to make a surprising offer—if she decides to go ahead, then he’s willing to be her sperm donor.

Will Sarah take Jacob up on his offer?

4) Tragedy strikes during Sarah’s surgery

As the day of Sarah’s cancer surgery comes around, Charity accompanies Sarah to the hospital.

Sarah’s thankful for Charity’s support as the reality of what’s ahead hits them both. However, before the operation, Sarah wants assurance from Charity that she still fully backs her plan.

But Charity struggles to hide the reality of her feelings about the IVF. She tries to explain she still supports her, but admits that she feels Sarah is making the wrong choice.

As emotions flare, Charity’s left devastated as she manages to break Sarah’s heart just as she’s whisked off to surgery.

As Cain joins Charity at the hospital, anxiously awaiting Sarah’s return from theatre, he does his best to comfort Charity over the ill-timed argument.

But the pair are immediately thrown into a panic when the surgeon returns and tells them that things didn’t go to plan with the operation…

Is Sarah okay?

5) Tracy bans the Dingles from Nate’s funeral

Elsewhere, when Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) overhears Tracy (Amy Walsh) making plans for Nate’s (Jurell Carter) funeral, she spots her chance to ask if Cain is now allowed to attend.

Tracy and Cain have spent the past couple of weeks at loggerheads since learning of Nate’s death, who was recently discovered at the bottom of a local lake after everyone thought he’d left for Shetland back in September.

With Cain having given his son a beating on the day he planned to leave, Tracy is certain that he must have been responsible, whilst Cain turned the tables back on Amy by accusing her.

Amy’s case wasn’t helped when the real killer, John, planted Nate’s phone in Tracy’s garden, leading her to be arrested by the police and questioned as a suspect.

When Tracy shuts Belle down and confirms that Cain’s still banned, Belle decides to take matters into her own hands.

She tries to make Tracy see that no one really knows what happened to Nate. But Tracy takes it as an accusation, convinced Belle is also blaming her for Nate’s death.

Standing her ground, Tracy doubles down and bans the entire Dingle family from attending, leaving Cain crushed when he hears the news.

The next day, Belle ropes Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick) in to help convince Tracy to change her mind. But when Vanessa talks to a broken Tracy, she finds her sister too upset to budge.

Tracy tells her that the funeral is her last chance to make things right for Nate, feeling as though she let him down by believing he’d willingly abandoned his family.

Seeing her sister’s distress, Vanessa can’t bring herself to push Tracy any further.

Will Cain get to say a proper goodbye to his son?

6) Who is targeting Joe?

There’s mysterious happenings up at Home Farm next week, and whilst Joe (Ned Porteous) is certain that love rival Billy (Jay Kontzle) is responsible, could he be barking up the wrong tree?

When Joe discovers that his car has been keyed, he’s quick to point the finger towards Billy, who was devastated when wife Dawn (Olivia Bromley) left him after starting a secret romance with Joe.

Joe’s suspicions grow when he later realises someone has been in his bedroom and stolen all of his autoimmune suppressant drugs, required following his clandestine kidney transplant. 

Convinced Billy is ramping up some petty revenge campaign, he turns to Sam (James Hooton) for advice. Sam urges him to stop mithering and do something about it—if he really thinks Billy’s behind it, he should go and call him out.

But Joe’s big showdown at the depot doesn’t quite go to plan. Instead of coming out on top, he’s left humiliated.

That’s when Sam drops another idea into the mix. Maybe what Joe really needs is a new version of his late father-figure, Graham (Andrew Scarborough)—someone in his corner who’ll help command the respect Joe thinks he’s lacking.

The idea sticks with Joe, and soon he’s putting a new plan into motion.

Joe later meets up with Shaun (James Boyland), the guy he enlisted to attack Caleb in order to facilitate the stealing of his kidney, in the hope that he will be able to put Billy back in his place…

But with paranoia clouding his judgement, and no proof that Billy’s actually behind any of it, is Joe picking the wrong fight altogether?

7) Paddy worries that Bear has dementia

Also next week, Bear’s (Joshua Richards) loved ones continue to be concerned over his recent behaviour, which shows no sign of improving.

His forgetfulness and out-of-character mood swings have completely thrown Paddy (Dominic Brunt) and Mandy (Lisa Riley), but Bear refuses to acknowledge that anything is wrong.

When he quietly shares his concerns with Gabby (Rosie Bentham), she draws on her own experience with late father Ashley (John Middleton) and confirms what Paddy’s secretly thinking—maybe it’s time to get his dad checked for dementia.

Although the thought’s already been playing on Paddy’s mind, hearing it out loud hits hard. He tries to gently raise the idea of a doctor’s visit with Bear, but Bear’s prickly response only makes Paddy more worried.

Gabby later suggests another route—if Bear won’t go willingly, maybe Paddy could get some answers by trying out an online dementia test, without Bear realising.

But when Paddy ropes Marlon (Mark Charnock) in to help, it doesn’t take long to realise that testing someone without their knowledge isn’t exactly straightforward… will Bear catch on as to what they’re up to?