A heartbreaking storyline has been teed-up for Gabby Thomas on Emmerdale, with the character suffering an embarrassing romantic rejection. Following recent flirtations, the character made her move on Ross Barton – but it didn’t exactly go to plan.
Friday’s instalment of the ITV soap began with Gabby workshopping her romantic patter with Ross’s half-brother Lewis, before telling him that she knew just what to do to capture his attention.
Ross then found Gabby waiting for him in a satin gown, after she had summoned him over for an “urgent” job. After he made a joke about feeling like he’d walked into the Playboy Mansion, she began taking off the robe to reveal lingerie underneath.
When she asked if he could “warm [her] up”, he uncomfortably looked to the ceiling and replied: “Nope. But if you could just pop the [robe] back up while I still have a tiny bit of self-control…”
When Gabby continued to flirt, Ross kindly – but firmly – shut her down, leaving her mortified. When he added that he was “kind of seeing someone”, her embarrassment only escalated.
Later, she confided in her stepmother, Laurel, about what had happened – totally unaware that she’s the “someone” that Ross was talking about, as sparks continue to fly between the pair.
This will ultimately lead to a new storyline in which Gabby develops an unhealthy relationship with eating. In an exclusive chat with Inside Soap, producer Laura Shaw said that it would be a “big” storyline for the character.
“We delve into the dark side of obsessive healthy eating,” she said. “She lost Vinny, and then being pushed away by Ross makes her start to become a little bit more obsessive about controlling what she eats.”
Rosie Bentham, who plays Gabby, added: “Body image starts becoming really important to her. Obviously, with that rejection and seeing Vinny all over the village being absolutely fine, it makes her be like: ‘Let’s take control of our lives, we don’t need anybody else’.”
