Next week on Emmerdale, Celia interferes in Ray’s romance with Laurel, Moira makes a shocking discovery, Kim’s loved ones wait for news, and has Vanessa uncovered Charity’s secret?
1) Celia wants Laurel out of the picture
As they continue their relentless reign of terror upon April (Amelia Flanagan), Marlon (Mark Charnock) and Rhona (Zoe Henry), there’s an increasing dissension in the ranks between Celia (Jaye Griffiths) and son Ray (Joe Absolom).
Whilst a burgeoning romance with village resident Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) has given Ray a glimpse of what life could be like away from his mother’s grip, Celia is unimpressed by the thought of her right-hand-man being distracted.
Next week sees Ray thrown off balance when he learns, with little warning, that Celia is joining him and Laurel for dinner.
What should be a relaxed gathering quickly turns tense as Celia wastes no time asserting herself, leaving Ray quietly on edge and hoping that she keeps things civil.
As the meal goes on, Celia grows increasingly uneasy watching how naturally Ray and Laurel connect.
Threatened by their growing bond, Celia decides to intervene. Once she has Laurel alone, she chips away at Ray’s character, casting him as a womaniser who manipulates his partners, and never truly lets anyone in.
By the time Celia takes her leave, her words have taken hold. Laurel is clearly unsettled, and Ray is left stung by the damage he knows has been done.
Ray leaves, struggling to conceal just how humiliated he feels, and Rhona happens to witness his abrupt exit from Mulberry, instantly fearing that Laurel has been caught in the crossfire of something serious.
Back at the farm, Ray confronts Celia, painfully aware that her meddling is rooted in jealousy over someone else having his attention.
Celia refuses to back down and pushes him to walk away from Laurel altogether. Faced with yet another ultimatum, Ray is left questioning how far his mother will go—and whether he can keep letting her dictate the course of his life…
2) Moira uncovers Celia’s true colours
Meanwhile, Celia’s outward appearance as a legit turkey farmer looks set to crumble when Moira (Natalie J Robb) discovers that their partnership isn’t quite what it appears to be.
Moira had got over her initial distrust of her neighbour, despite learning that she’d previously formed an alliance with Joe Tate in an attempt to force Moira to sell Butlers.
The two went into business providing meat to local businesses, with Moira blissfully unaware that the labour on Celia’s turkey farm was provided by victims of modern slavery, including Paddy’s missing dad, Bear (Joshua Richards).
Moira’s curiosity is piqued next week when she finds some paperwork for her business arrangement with Celia. Looking further, she’s shocked to realise Celia has been forging her signature on invoices for huge quantities of turkeys.
Furious, Moira storms over to The Woolpack and confronts Celia. Celia masks her initial alarm and quickly works to turn the situation back on her, using Moira’s anger to publicly undermine the accusations.
The row escalates in front of the pub’s regulars, and in the heat of the moment Moira slaps Celia!
Celia instantly shifts into performance mode, acting deeply upset and avoiding giving a response to the accusation as she heads for the door, leaving Moira calling after her to stay away from her business.
Moira’s left worrying that she may now be the one facing legal consequences for the very public slap, rather than Celia answering for the fraud.
Even so, she knows she can’t let the situation lie—though the thought of confronting Celia again leaves her uneasy as she heads over to her farm…
Little does Moira know that Celia already has the upper hand, having already dumped a body on Moira’s land!
Is Celia about to play her trump card?
3) Will Ruby be the village’s next victualler?
Elsewhere in the village, Ruby (Beth Cordingly) gets herself in a pickle, when a decision to order some wine from abroad whilst tipsy leaves her with a large surplus of booze to shift.
Manpreet (Rebecca Sarker) offers up a solution, but as Ruby tries to sell the wine in the village, she’s met with criticism from both Jai (Chris Bisson) and Charity (Emma Atkins) for competing with their businesses despite not having the appropriate licence to do so.
It appears that Charity later reconsiders though, when she agrees to strike a deal with Ruby.
But is there more to her decision than meets the eye?
4) Will Ray defy Celia to help Bear?
Back on Celia’s farm, Bear’s arm injury is worsening by the day, to the point where even Ray fears that it may need proper medical attention, despite the risk of it blowing their operation.
With Anya’s recent death perhaps on his mind, as a result of not getting the medical attention she needed, Ray tells Celia that the wound needs looking at by a doctor, but she is quick to shut the idea down.
Ray’s left torn—will he risk going against Celia and get Bear the help he needs?
5) Has Vanessa discovered Charity’s secret?
Over at Jacobs Fold, Charity’s close to breaking point as she continues to guard her baby secret.
So far, the only person Charity has confided in is her cousin Chas (Lucy Pargeter), who knows that the baby isn’t the surrogate child she agreed to carry for granddaughter Sarah (Katie Hill) and partner Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant).
Instead, the pregnancy is the result of a one-night stand with Ross (Michael Parr) after Charity cheated on her husband Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb).
With Chas pushing Charity to be honest with her loved ones, Charity is in desperate need for another shoulder to cry on, and looks towards her ex, Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick).
When Vanessa attempts to get Charity to open up on whatever is troubling her, Charity can’t help but hint that the baby may not be Jacob and Sarah’s after all.
But as soon as Vanessa reacts, Charity panics and immediately backtracks, unwilling to let the truth spill any further.
But is it already too late?
6) Sarah and Jacob put their plan into action
Meanwhile, after yet another clash between Kerry (Laura Norton) and Charity, Jacob’s worried that his and Sarah’s upcoming wedding will be overshadowed by the family drama.
Wanting a calmer alternative, Jacob suggested that they could get married in secret and only tell their loved ones afterwards. He and Sarah settled on a quiet Christmas Eve ceremony and agreed Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) would be the ideal person to help them keep it under wraps.
Next week, Sarah puts the plan into motion, and enlists Belle to help her and Jacob pull off their surprise.
Later on, Charity’s put under more pressure when Sarah invites her to a gender reveal party for the baby. Charity attempts to find a reason to not attend, not realising just how significant the occasion may be…
7) Will Kim lose her leg?
Also next week, it’s touch and go for Kim (Claire King), as her loved ones wait to hear whether her leg will have to be amputated.
Kim was seriously injured when she went to investigate an illegal shoot taking part on the estate, organised by a disgruntled Sam (James Hooton) and Lydia (Karen Blick) behind her back.
Lydia had felt Kim, her supposed best friend, had not looked out for her and Sam after he was (briefly) sacked by Joe (Ned Porteous), not realising that Kim was organising a surprise visit from Jason Donovan in superfan Lydia’s honour.
Searching the woods with her horse, Ice, the pair were both caught up in a snare trap left by the poaching group.
Though severely injured, Ice managed to break free and find his way back to the stables, but Kim was left stranded in the woods overnight with a badly broken leg.
She was eventually found by Sam, Lydia and Dawn (Olivia Bromley) the next morning.
Guilt eating away at them, Sam and Lydia remained at the hospital alongside Dawn and Joe (Ned Porteous) as they awaited news from the operating theatre. Eventually Dawn received word that Kim’s injury was so severe that, if there isn’t any improvement overnight, her leg will have be removed.
Whilst we can say that Kim is set for a pretty miserable Christmas at Home Farm, will her leg be spared? And might Sam and Lydia’s role in the ordeal come to light?
- Emmerdale Full Episode | Tuesday 27th January
- Emmerdale Today (26 January 2026) Secrets Resurface and Dangerous Truths Come Out
- Next week 26th to 30th January on Emmerdale Kim and Joe are faced with a ghost from the past, Paddy continues to protect Bear and Ruby comes to a horrific realisation.
- Bradley and Lisa React To Brand-New Emmerdale Trailer
- Emmerdale reveals yet another Bear Wolf twist after Ray Walters murder in ITVX release
- Today’s Emmerdale episode 23 jan 2026: Tensions Explode as Dark Secrets Push Everyone to the Edge
