Emmerdale star teases new romance that could save character from dark plot
Emmerdale actor Joe Absolom has addressed a possible romance for villain Ray and Laurel Thomas on the ITV soap after recent hints and new scenes ahead amid the County Lines plot
Ray actor Joe Absolom has teased all on a possible new Emmerdale romance amid a dark storyline on the ITV soap.
The actor told The Mirror there were more scenes ahead for Ray and Laurel Thomas, after recent scenes teased there could be something there with the pair. It seems sparks are set to fly for the duo, with Laurel yet to uncover the criminal schemes Ray is caught up in, and his link to Celia.
But could this be what saves Ray from his mother's dark world he's been trapped in since she took him in all those years ago? Could a Laurel romance secure redemption for Ray, and a future in the village?
Joe teased: "I think everybody has these moments, don't they? And you don't know until you meet that person. So I think when he meets Laurel and there's something that brings a side out to him that he didn't know he was going to have, but the writers did.
READ MORE: Coronation Street spoilers: Soap first, Christmas twists and 'unmissable' crossoverREAD MORE: Emmerdale star Chris Coghill appears to confirm dying character's true fate"I like it because it has a different side of it. It's more human. I think he sees a family, he sees her with her kids and sees a family life that he never had because he was adopted very early on by Celia when he was eight.
"So we see in episodes later than now there's little hints of what his life has been like. So I think to me, Laurel is this kind of woman who has a business and a family and children.
"She lives in a nice house. Yeah, I think it's attractive to Ray in lots of different ways." The star also hinted at scenes with new characters ahead in terms of residents not currently involved in his County Lines plot.
So far it's only been Celia, Ray, Dylan and April, but ahead of a special episode for April and her father Marlon Dingle, it seems other residents will feature in the plot. He explained: "I'm intrigued how that sort of comes out because basically April is a Dingle, so she has all that weight with her. I have stuff with Marlon and Rhona. And eventually that leads to scenes with Cain.
"People start tweaking that this isn't just a sort of mother and son. These people are new to the village and these people are bad news." But Joe's loving playing a baddie.
He said: "It's been good, yeah. It's good to be bad. It's good to be evil. It's good to be a little bit snidey. It's easier to be snidey and horrible than it is to be happy."
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .