Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw has teased a brand new romance for Ross Barton and it’s safe to say nobody saw this one coming.
While viewers have already spotted sparks between Ross and Gabby, it turns out there’s another woman about to catch his eye first and it’s none other than Laurel Thomas, setting up a very awkward love triangle in the process.
Ross and Laurel romance in Emmerdale
In a new interview with Inside Soap, producer Laura Shaw revealed what lies ahead for Ross this summer and confirmed romance is very much on the cards.
“We know he loves an older woman,” she teased. “So there’s going to be a little dalliance between Ross and Laurel.”
But it sounds like things are about to get seriously messy.
Laura continued: “But what we’re also seeing is Gabby beginning to become a little bit smitten with Ross. So, we’ll see how she reacts when she finds out that the other woman in Ross’ life is Gabby’s stepmother!”
And honestly? This has all the ingredients for classic Emmerdale chaos.
History of Ross and Laurel in Emmerdale
The pairing may seem random especially as longtime viewers will remember Ross and Laurel actually go way back and their first meeting was far from romantic.
Ross first arrived in the village after carjacking Laurel while she was stopped at the roadside with baby Leo.
When she refused to drive for him, the pair struggled before Laurel managed to escape with Leo while Ross sped off in her car.
Later, Laurel tracked him down herself and confronted him with a pair of scissors, determined to make him feel as frightened as she had been during the attack.
Ross eventually called her bluff and things turned dangerous again before Cain Dingle stepped in and stopped the situation escalating further.
Not exactly the usual soap love story beginning…
Romantic pasts
Ross already proved last year that he has a thing for older women thanks to his fling with Manpreet.
And interestingly, this is not even the first time Laurel and Gabby have found themselves caught up in romantic drama involving the same man.
Back in 2022, Gabby started dating a man called Chris after meeting him on a dating app. What she did not realise was that Laurel was also seeing him, except she knew him as Kit.
Kit was Marlon’s physio after his stroke and had started a relationship with Laurel at the same time.
Once the truth came out, both women quickly dumped him and Laurel’s ex Jai even punched him before Kit disappeared from the village for good.
So with Ross now caught between stepmother and stepdaughter, viewers may be wondering whether history is about to repeat itself all over again.
Read more: Emmerdale cast shake-up 2026 as exits confirmed and big returns teased – so who’s leaving?
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 8pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.
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