Emmerdaleâs Charity Dingle gets close to breaking point next week following evil Dr Toddâs shocking sexual assault â and turns to alcohol and pills to numb her pain.
Struggling to process what she has been subjected to, Charity continues to keep the upsetting ordeal to herself and refuses to confide in anyone.
However, itâs clear to her concerned family something is not right, and they urge Charity to seek professional help â will she share the details of what Dr Todd has done, or fall even further into despair?
âThis is a living nightmare,â explains our Emmerdale insider. âCharity is made of tough stuff and has come through dark times before, but this awful attack has left her feeling understandably fragile.
âShe doesnât want to burst Sarahâs baby bubble, hence saying nothing about Dr Toddâs actions. But how long can she hide the horror she has endured before it destroys her?â
Despite finding the courage to report the assault, more twists in the tale mean Charityâs nightmare is unfortunately continuing â with no one any the wiser. Not wanting to tell her husband Mackenzie the real reason behind her sudden erratic behaviour, Charity concocts a cover story to put him off the scent.
âCharity speaks to a doctor,â reveals our spy. âBut she goes along with Mackâs assumption that she is suffering from postnatal depression, which Manpreet accepts as it explains her distress.
âAfter sheâs prescribed medication by Manpreet, Charity feels terrible for misleading the medic and digging a deeper hole of deception.â
Mack later catches up with his wife after her GP appointment, and hopes her diagnosis means she can start on her road to recovery. However, an admission from Mack soon sends Charity deeper into her downward spiral.
Feeling powerless as he watches his other half struggle, Mack has already turned to Charityâs nearest and dearest for advice as to how to help her. But when he reveals that he has told Sarah about her granâs suffering, all hell breaks loose between the couple.
âCharity is devastated,â continues our source. âSarah is the last person she wants to be alerted to any of this. Charity already feels guilty over lying about Leylaâs biological parentage, and wants nothing else to threaten Sarah and Jacobâs family unit. If Todd was exposed, all the other secrets would unravel â Charity canât let that happen.â
Not wanting to arouse Mackâs suspicions, Charity waits until sheâs alone and privately breaks down. Unable to cope with her internalised trauma, she consumes sleeping pills and wine. Poor Charity is hitting the self-destruct button, endangering her mental and physical health.
Seeking out her gran to see how sheâs doing, supportive Sarah admits to feeling guilty â if she hadnât asked Charity to be her surrogate in the first place, she wouldnât be feeling like this.
Mortified that Sarah is blaming herself, Charity resolves to put her granddaughterâs mind at rest. But as she starts to speak, sheâs stopped in her tracksâŠ
âShe just canât say the words,â explains our insider. âSarah tries to get Charity to open up, and for a split second it looks as though she might say something. In the end, Charity glosses over it and puts her stress down to hormones and a lack of sleep â although she implies thereâs more going on, she makes it clear it has nothing to do with Sarah.â
Even though sheâs shut down Sarah from digging too deeply, Charity feels worse than ever for continuing to lie to her family. Unable to share the true pain sheâs living with, Charity has only succeeded in making Sarah feel pushed out.
Upset Sarah cries on Mackâs shoulder, offloading her remorse about the problems the surrogacy has caused Charity. Alone with her pain, Charity canât see a way out of her despair as her world falls apart. Will the truth about Toddâs crime ever come to light?


