Emmerdale star on fallout from harrowing rape and Lydia's future with Sam

05 September 2023 , 19:00

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Lydia Dingle was raped in harrowing scenes on Emmerdale tonight, as Karen Blick explained what's next for her character and her future with Sam

Karen Blick has opened up about what's next for Lydia Dingle on Emmerdale after she was raped in harrowing scenes.

Tonight, viewers saw Craig take advantage of Lydia and force himself on her. Horrified by what happened, she froze, unable to believe someone who had been so kind and was so friendly with her had done this. Now Karen and Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw have opened up about what's to come for Lydia - and how what's happened might affect her relationship with Sam Dingle.

Speaking about the upcoming scenes to The Mirror and other press, Laura said: "I think very early on with the research, it was really obvious from speaking to Rape Crisis that the impact on partners, family, friends, and the whole local community really is just huge.

"Sam's gonna really struggle to come to terms with it, with his feelings of helplessness in adequacy. He just wants to help Lydia, but he doesn't know what to do and how to help. We'll also see is just how a lot of people really don't quite know how to react or what to say. They just want Lydia to be better. But how do you actually begin to help somebody who's been through an ordeal like that."

Lydia was raped by Craig in harrowing scenes

Karen explained that it's tough for Lydia and Sam, as Lydia refuses to talk about what happened.

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Asked if there's hope for the pair and their marriage can survive this, she said: "I hope it can. As Laura said at the start, they're a really strong, solid couple. They absolutely love each other. They are soulmates. And Lydia's biggest fear is how will Sam view her once he knows what's happened? Will he look at her in the same way?

"That's what she fears, because she feels so bad about what's happened and it worries her about how Sam will feel about her? Will Sam believe her? All sorts of things are going through her mind. She feels that somehow she let Craig do this, and that in some way means she's betrayed Sam when actually she absolutely didn't. This was something out of her control."

She added: "And when it happens, Lydia has a freeze response to this. So she doesn't kick scream, fight, run away, and she carries a lot of guilt about that. People have different responses when faced with traumatic experiences and situations. And some people will fighting, but some people will just shut down and freeze, and Lydia freezes."

*If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999.

Jasmine Allday