‘NOT REALLY DĘĄD’ Emmerdale’s John Sugden drops SH0CKING NEWS of Anthony’s RETURN

Emmerdale viewers aren’t convinced that John Sugden (played by Oliver Farnworth) truly got rid of Anthony Fox’s (Nicholas Day) body. Anthony arrived in the village in August 2024, much to the horror of his daughter Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly). It soon transpired that Anthony sexually assaulted Ruby when she was a teenager and was the biological father of Steph Miligan (Georgia Jay). Back in January, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) targeted the villain with a brutal beating at Caleb Miligan’s (Will Ash) depot and became convinced he had k¡lled him. However, it was later revealed that Ruby was the one who delivered the final blow, suffocating her father to DĘĄth with a rag.

Believing Aaron was the one who k¡lled him, John disposed of Anthony’s body. Despite keeping its location a secret for a while, John later claimed to have buried Anthony in the woods. Although it appeared the Anthony saga was concluded, fans believe John might have not been telling the truth after all. Taking to Reddit, one viewer wrote: “But Anthony’s body… Do we think it’s over? Or do we think it’s going to come back to the forefront at some point? I have this feeling he’s not actually DĘĄd. John has him holed up somewhere.”

Another agreed: “Also what if Anthony’s NOT actually DĘĄd? Mean, like Steph said we do in fact literally just have his word for it & what better way than to totally buy his way outta the shit by dragging down the Dingle’s but especially Caleb with him too at the same time no?”

Viewers have already seen John use Anthony’s DĘĄth as leverage over Caleb, forcing him to sack Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) by reminding the businessman about the huge risk he took for their family.

Others agreed that John will use it to his advantage, but are still convinced that Anthony is DĘĄd.

Another posted: “It might be a case of John grassing on everyone once he’s caught, either to make himself seem better than he is (i.e., they’ve done worse, he helped them, etc.), or just to get revenge on them for turning against him. Pretty sure he’s DĘĄd, though. Let’s not forget he had terminal cancer. Even if he survived a beating AND suffocation, he’d be DĘĄd by now from the cancer itself anyway … unless John has learned to cure cancer too.”

A third responded: “Yeah that is a good point, perhaps he would’ve d¡ęd by now anyway. Mind, at the time, I was never 100% he actually had cancer – wouldn’t have been surprised if it was a lie to get back into their lives.”

Someone else echoed: “No I don’t think it’s over. John now has something to blackmail both Aaron and Robert with, Anthony and the video of Robert hitting him with the spanner. I wouldn’t be surprised if Aaron and Robert get closer and he uses those things to make them stay away from each other.”

Last week, John provoked Robert into attacking him. The scene was eerily similar to when Robert attacked Lee Posner in 2019 – a crime he later went to prison for.

After John ended up in hospital, Robert decided to put the feud with his half-brother to bed once and for all. But John got exactly what he wanted, as the episode concluded with him watching footage of Robert attacking him, which he will no doubt threaten to use in the near future.