Emmerdale’s Zoe Henry reveals ‘lovely twist’ for Rhona and Marlon amid life-changing fight
Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry)’s life changed overnight in Emmerdale when she discovered that her ex husband Gus (Alan McKenna) and his wife Lucy had used an embryo that Gus and Rhona had had frozen when they were married.
When Lucy died shortly after baby Ivy was born, Gus was left grieving for his wife and struggling to cope with caring for a newborn. Rhona, meanwhile, had to come to terms with the realisation that a baby with her genes was living nearby and she had no legal rights over what happened to her.
Over Christmas Mary (Louise Jameson) brought Gus and Ivy to live with Rhona, Marlon (Mark Charnock) and the rest of the family because Gus wasn’t able to care for the baby. Soon afterwards he vanished.
This left Rhona and Marlon to look after Ivy and, in the process, bond with the little girl. The longer the situation goes on, the closer the bond becomes. Even though Gus has recently been in touch again, Zoe Henry told us that Rhona has been quite manipulative in putting him off.
It’s been a difficult few months
‘She’s played on his insecurities because he’s said,”‘I’ve been seeing a counsellor and they said I’ve got to be 100% strong.”’ she told us.
‘And she’s like, “Yeah, and if you’re not you’ll just set yourself right back again and you’ve got to put Ivy first.” It’s quite manipulative. It comes from a good place but she’s doing it for her own benefit as well because she doesn’t want Ivy to go anywhere.’
Marlon was at first very much against Ivy living with them, worried that it would be upsetting for Leo (Harvey Rogerson) and April (Amelia Flanagan) and ultimately for Rhona when the baby had to return to Gus. As time has gone on, his feelings have changed dramatically, as Zoe pointed out.
‘He’s absolutely fallen head over heels in love with Ivy, which is a really lovely twist,’ she smiled.
‘So have Leo and April. It’s a worst case scenario because they’ve become this tight-knit little family. They all get on well and you sort of fall into a pattern with a baby and they’ve got into the rhythm of that so everything’s working out – and then Gus rings.’
The actress said that an issue which could have torn Marlon and Rhona apart is now drawing them together.
‘I think he knows how how much Rhona supported him through his stroke. He can’t not know that and can’t not sort of think about that,’ she reflected. ‘So I think he knows if he wants his marriage to survive he’s probably got to support her. I think he really is in love with that little baby as well by this point.’
As to where the story is headed now that Gus has been back in touch, Zoe told us that Rhona ‘goes all out’ to keep Ivy.
‘I think you always have to play the truth of a situation. You have to draw on not just your own experiences but – what would I do in this situation? If you were threatened with somebody saying, “Well, it’s not your baby is it?” even though you’ve looked after it for two months and biologically it’s yours and it’s your DNA, but you’re never going to be able to see it again. I think I’d probably get pretty drastic as well in that moment, you know.
‘It’s that primal thing – that’s her baby.’
