Emmerdale‘s Ross receives news that rocks the Barton family next week – he has a long-lost half-brother.

But when Ross comes face to face with his mum’s secret son, Lewis, he’s forced to answer some difficult questions about his mother’s past… Is Ross ready to confront his family’s demons and tell his curious sibling the whole truth? And will unearthing the dark secrets incriminate Moira?

“Lewis has a lot of questions he wants answered,” explains newcomer Bradley Riches, who plays the secret Barton brother.

“He’s nervous and excited, but Ross is caught off guard. Lewis wants to know what his mum was like – however, Ross wants him to go away!”

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This life-changing news arrives at Butler’s Farm in a letter addressed to ‘The Family of Emma Barton’. Moira intercepts the note and decides not to share it with Ross, but it soon weighs heavily on her mind…

Haunted by her memories of pushing Emma Barton to her death, Moira is shaken and eventually gives Ross the letter. He’s stunned by the contents, which reveal a mysterious brother he knew nothing about.

But Ross buries his head in the sand, refusing to acknowledge his hidden relative until some encouraging words from Matty persuade him to meet up with Lewis…

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“Lewis has never met someone like Ross and vice versa,” admits Bradley.

“But he doesn’t know if he can trust these people because they aren’t telling the whole truth. He’s trying to process what happened to his mum.”

In some nearby woodland, Ross and Lewis meet for the first time, but it’s far from a happy union. Ross is overwhelmed by his new brother’s questions about the past, trying to navigate the Barton clan’s dark and complicated secrets.

As the conversation takes an upsetting turn, Ross struggles to cope and abandons Lewis alone in the woods.

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Back in the village, he tells Moira it was a mutual decision to give up on a family reunion, but it’s clear Ross has deep regrets about how he left things.

Will Lewis return to the village to get the whole story on his troubled mother’s demise? And what will it mean for Moira if Lewis begins digging into the circumstances of his mother’s death?

“Moira is going to be nervous if Lewis returns!” teases Bradley. “She’s had to live with the guilt of killing Emma and now a new person has come in and brought up all that past trauma. Is she going to get away with what she thought she’d escaped?”