Emmerdale confirms tragic major death in ITVX edition as pivotal past character killed off-screen

After clashing with Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) over bringing young son Moses to an illegal bare knuckle fight, Ross was seen visiting the graves of his late father and brother, James (Bill Ward) and Finn (Joe Gill).

Bumping into his cousin Matty (Ash Palmisciano), Ross was evasive when asked about girlfriend Rebecca White (Emily Head) and her young son Seb.

But later, while catching up with Moses's mum Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), Ross finally opened up - he and Rebecca had split up, with the pair remaining friends as Ross maintained a bond with Seb.

Ross then looked after Seb while Rebecca underwent a routine operation, but her heart stopped and she died.

When pressed on whether Seb's father, Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley), was aware of what had happened, Ross didn't reply, but Seb was taken to live with an aunt of Rebecca's, as Ross had no legal rights over the little boy.

When Mack arrived home, Ross reverted to form, hoping to make it look like he and Charity had been getting cosy in his absence!

In the village, Ross taunted Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle), warning him about the dangerous people who had arranged their fight.

But as Ross makes himself back at home, who exactly was Rebecca, and what happened to her during her time in Emmerdale? Read on for all you need to know.

Who was Rebecca White and what happened to her in Emmerdale?

Rebecca was the sister of Robert's ex-wife Chrissie White (Louise Marwood), who had also had a fling with him before she descended on the village.

Robert was in a happy relationship with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) by the time Rebecca turned up, but that didn't stop her from trying to seduce him!

Robert came out as bisexual, and insisted that this didn't mean he was about to cheat. But, months later, with Aaron in prison and pushing Robert away, Robert slept with Rebecca, which resulted in a pregnancy.

Robert and Aaron split, and broken Robert revisited his villainous roots – but eventually, he became a loving father to Seb, and Aaron and Robert got back together and helped raise the baby.

Meanwhile, Rebecca was left critically injured after a car crash caused by nephew Lachlan (Tom Atkinson), which killed Chrissie and their father Lawrence (John Bowe).

Waking from a coma, Rebecca was fragile and suffered severe memory problems, later being diagnosed with executive dysfunction.

She allowed Robert and Aaron to have full-time custody of Seb, and the trio settled into an amicable arrangement, as Rebecca got a job behind the bar of the Woolpack.

With Lachlan's killer deeds piling up, he took Rebecca hostage, leaving Robert and her on/off boyfriend Ross believing she was dead.

After narrowly escaping being murdered, Rebecca found her way home and Lachlan was finally sent to prison for his crimes.

In November 2018, Ross got a job in Liverpool and Rebecca planned to move away with him and Seb, but Robert and Aaron were against this, and Rebecca changed her mind, aware that Seb had devoted fathers and plenty of other family in the village.

However, seeing how much Rebecca needed a fresh start, Robert gave his blessing for her to take their son, with the toddler still able to visit the Dales from time to time.

When Robert was imprisoned for murder in 2019, Rebecca decided to block Aaron's access to Seb, who was never seen again.

With Rebecca having passed away off-screen, though, it seems remiss to have legacy Sugden Seb so far away - will we get to see him again?

Read more:

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• Emmerdale's Eden Taylor-Draper on Belle's breakdown and when abusive Tom will get his comeuppance
• Emmerdale reveals huge Dingle bombshell in early ITVX episode
• 6 Emmerdale spoilers next week: Villain Jade threatens Billy and Ross - and Aaron is attacked
• Emmerdale star Daisy Campbell reveals Amelia Spencer has been axed after 13 years

Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 7:30pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.

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