Emmerdale spoilers: Lydia Dingle is gutted as she fears Sam no longer has interest in her

Emmerdale’s Lydia (Karen Blick) and Sam (James Hooton) have been to hell and back thanks to Rapist Craig (Ben Addis). Is their marriage finally about to crack?

Lydia and Craig reconnected after he showed up in the village and the pair realised they had been in a children’s home together. But with ulterior motives from the outset, Craig manipulated Lydia into getting closer than she was comfortable, and when he fully had her trust, he raped her.

His comeuppance was by no means swift, but it came in the end when first he was beaten by Sam, and later by the hoof of Kim Tate’s (Claire King) horse, which trampled him to death.

Though the world was rid of one more scum bag, every step of this terrible ordeal put strain on Lydia and Sam’s relationship.

The beloved characters are desperately trying to reconnect after a difficult few months

First there was disbelief from the family that Craig could do any wrong, leaving Lydia isolated, alone and ashamed. Sam failed to support his wife in the days before she was able to fully admit what had happened.

Then when she finally opened up about the rape, Lydia could barely look at Sam and flinched with every touch. He felt helpless and powerless as he watched his wife suffer, even coming to the conclusion she didn’t love him anymore.

Craig was later found dead, and when put under pressure, Sam confessed that he had most likely killed Craig after giving him a severe beating. Lydia took this very badly and even chose not to spend Christmas with her family.

Somehow, they got through it all, but they’re now set for an even bigger challenge – Sam seems to be the one to have fallen out of love.

Lydia senses a change in Sam’s behaviour towards her and she fears he is losing interest.

Has their marriage been so tested that they’ve come to the end of the road?