5 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 5th to 9th January

Next week on Emmerdale, the village learns of Celia and Ray’s operation as a body is hidden, Paddy learns the truth about Bear, and various residents speed towards danger.

On Monday, Emmerdale airs at 7pm, Coronation Street at 7:30pm, followed by the Corriedale crossover at 8pm. From Tuesday onwards, Emmerdale will air weekdays at 8pm and Coronation Street at 8:30pm.

1) Who is hiding a body?

As the dramatic week begins, we see a montage of the villagers going about their daily business, only for the serene illusion to be quickly broken as an unseen person drags away a dead body.

Thursday’s episode saw an unexpected death, as evil Celia (Jaye Griffiths) met her maker at the hands of adopted son Ray (Joe Absolom).

Celia has tasked Ray with killing April (Amelia Flanagan), who she deemed as now knowing too much, whilst she would take care of enslaved Bear (Joshua Richards).

When Ray returned and admitted that he’d let April walk, a furious Celia belittled him, and took great pleasure in sharing that Bear was now dead.

Later that evening, Celia tried to make things up with Ray. But as she embraced him, Ray stabbed his mother in the back, literally.

Shocked that Ray had stood up to her, Celia whispered that she was proud of him as she slipped lifeless to the floor.

With his mum now out of the way, Ray hoped that he would finally be able to start afresh and make a go of things with Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy), who he was being forced to walk away from by moving their operations elsewhere.

But it was already too late. Dylan (Fred Kettle) had finally told a horrified Laurel the truth about Ray’s true nature, and she slammed the door in his face.

With both Celia and Bear apparently dead, could Ray be moving one of their bodies in the opening of Monday’s episode, or is there a further twist to come?

Later in the week, Jai (Chris Bisson) is preparing to take one of the depot vans on a haulage run to Manchester, only for Caleb (Will Ash) to point out that it’s not important and can wait until the following day.

Neither of them are aware that the aforementioned body has been hidden inside the van…

2) Secrets revealed as April returns

Meanwhile, Laurel looks rattled as she hurriedly hides something away in a drawer, whilst over at Smithy Cottage, Rhona (Zoe Henry) makes a hushed phone call as Marlon (Marlon Charnock) fires off a tense text, both clearly on edge.

With April still missing after Ray told her to disappear, their anxiety is obvious—though it’s equally clear they’re all holding something back.

Outside the vets, Ross (Michael Parr) pulls up with a shaken and dishevelled April in the car, hinting that they too are sharing a secret.

When April finally walks up to the house, both Marlon and Rhona are overcome with relief. Rhona, however, remains cautious, questioning whether Ray or Celia could still pose a threat. April’s can’t say either way, which does little to reassure her.

Later in the week, April finally lays everything bare to her family, including Bob (Tony Audenshaw) and Mary (Louise Jameson). She’s adamant that the police must now be told, despite their fears about the consequences.

Their panic deepens when they learn, for the first time, that Bear has been at Celia’s farm since his disappearance—forced to work for all these months.

Still terrified of retaliation from Ray and Celia, the family struggle with what to do next, but April refuses to back down, insisting the truth has to come out.

3) Paddy learns the tragic truth about Bear

When Paddy (Dominic Brunt) returns to the village, Rhona asks him inside and breaks the news about his dad.

Paddy is visibly shocked as he takes in everything he’s told, but is quick to reassure April and Dylan that none of this is their fault, even as the worry continues with Bear still missing.

Meanwhile, Moira (Natalie J Robb) is left reeling when Ross explains what Ray and Celia have been involved in, leaving her wondering whether their crimes will have any repercussions on her as Celia’s former business partner. Well, there is the small matter of a body unknowingly buried on her land…

Before long, word spreads to The Woolpack, where Bob reveals the truth about Ray and Celia’s operation, leaving the pub stunned as the scale of it becomes clear.

Up at Home Farm, Kim (Claire King) spells out to Robert the full implications of Celia having been running her operation from land owned by the estate.

As she underlines the scale of what’s been going on and the potential consequences for them all, Robert is left with growing regret as the seriousness of the situation sinks in.

Elsewhere, police arrive to speak with Paddy about Bear and deliver the devastating news that he should begin preparing for the worst, leaving him completely shell-shocked.

As Paddy, Rhona, Marlon and April try to cling to the hope that this nightmare may soon be over, April remains convinced that the fallout will end with her being arrested for Callum’s supposed death when the police call over at Smithy Cottage.

4) Aaron and John speeds towards danger

Over at their Mill Cottage apartment, the week drew to a close with Robert (Ryan Hawley) and Aaron (Danny Miller) finally gaining the upper hand on Aaron’s unhinged ex-husband John (Oliver Farnworth).

After breaking free of his restraints, Robert was set upon by John, who began beating him as Aaron desperately begged him to stop. The struggle gave Robert the opening he needed, allowing him to grab the shotgun lying nearby and turn it on his half-brother.

Next week, the gun is still trained on John, but everything changes in an instant when Aaron suddenly turns on Robert, knocking him unconscious!

As Robert lies motionless, John dares to believe this is the moment he’s been waiting for—that Aaron has finally chosen him, and that a future together away from Emmerdale is within reach.

With Robert still out cold, Aaron appears to confirm John’s hopes, sharing a passionate kiss and reassuring him that everything is about to fall into place. As they make their way outside, it seems to John as though Aaron is ready to flee with him—but his illusion is soon shattered.

Pulling John into an embrace, Aaron suddenly grabs the gun away from him. A desperate struggle follows as John fights to regain control, but Aaron overpowers him and turns the weapon back on him, ordering John to drive them straight to Hotten police station.

Following their departure, Robert regains consciousness and, despite being concussed, rushes outside in a desperate attempt to stop Aaron coming to harm. With the pair already gone, Robert turns to a nearby Joe (Ned Porteous) and pleads with him for help.

Joe reluctantly agrees to act as driver for the dazed Robert as they head off in pursuit, but will they be able to catch up in time?

On the road to Hotten, Aaron keeps the gun fixed on John as he drives, but with John still behind the wheel, the situation could turn dangerous at any moment.

As the vehicle picks up speed, John slams his foot down on the accelerator, forcing Aaron into a desperate move as he grabs the steering wheel.

John lunges for the gun, and the struggle sends the car swerving wildly out of control…

5) Mackenzie confronts Charity

Over at Jacobs Fold, Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb) struggles to contain his anger as the reality of Charity’s (Emma Atkins) deception takes hold.

After weeks of threatening to do so, Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick) has finally come clean to Mack about the secret Charity’s been keeping from everyone—that the baby that Charity is carrying is not in fact the surrogate intended for granddaughter Sarah (Katie Hill) and her newlywed husband Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant), but her own.

However, there’s a further complication that neither Vanessa nor Mack are aware of. Following a row with Mack, Charity had a few too many and slept with Ross—making him, not Mack, the true father of the baby.

Outwardly calm, Mack keeps his emotions in check long enough to get Charity into the car. As they drive on, Charity quickly realises Mack knows the truth, albeit believing that he’s the father, and that she’s no longer in control of the situation.

When Mack finally confronts her and asks outright whether the baby is his, Charity has nowhere left to hide. She admits the pregnancy may not be Sarah’s after all, and the admission leaves Mack reeling.

“Obviously it’s slightly tricky in the sense he’s done something slightly similar two years prior,” Lawrence Robb exclusively told EverySoap. “I think the difference here though is that this has gone on a lot longer than what happened two years ago.”

Stunned by the scale of the lies—and by the fact Charity would have allowed her granddaughter to raise a child, his child as he believes, under false pretences—Mack makes a snap decision.

He insists they pursue Sarah and Jacob—who are being taken to the airport by Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Moira for their honeymoon—and tell them the truth before they board the plane.

Charity tries desperately to stop him, but Mack refuses to listen. As they head down the Hotten road, Mack becomes convinced he’s spotted Jacob and Sarah’s vehicle ahead and he floors the accelerator… unaware he’s heading towards disaster, as the Corriedale episode looms…

“There’s excitement, there’s explosions…” Lawrence teases. “Put it this way, his entire life in Emmerdale has always been him in jeopardy, and it’s no different here.“