2 days ago
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Newcomer Serena Sugden (Casey Al-Shaqsy) was an instant hit with fans when she made her Emmerdale debut last month, but there was some confusion surrounding her relationship with Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley).
Now, actress Casey Al-Shaqsy has taken to social media to clarify how her character fits into the Sugden family tree, ruling out the fan theory that Serena isn’t really a Sugden.
In a video posted to her Instagram stories, Casey explained that Serena is the great granddaughter of Edward Sugden.
In the very first Emmerdale episode, which aired in 1972, characters attended the funeral of Jacob Sugden. Jacob and Edward were brothers.
As Jacob was the father of Robert’s dad, Jack Sugden, that makes Robert and Serena second cousins once removed.
Obviously, this is a bit of a mouthful, so they just refer to each other as cousins.
Serena’s first scenes on the soap saw her provide a listening ear for Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), who had reached breaking point suffering a sexual assault at the hands of Dr Caitlin Todd (Caroline Harker).
Charity had run away from the village and taken refuge by a lake in the woods, where Serena found her.
It transpired that Serena worked for the Samaritans and managed to get Charity to open up about her struggles and what Dr Todd had done to her.
Serena advised Charity to come clean about her baby secret, so that she could inform the police of Dr Todd’s blackmail, which would help the case against her.
At the end of the episode, viewers saw that Serena’s Satnav was directing her to Emmerdale, and quickly realised that she must be the newest member of the Sugden family.
Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw has previously been enthusiastic about her plans to bring the iconic Sugden family back to the centre of village life, and this began with Robert and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) buying what has now been renamed Emmerdale Farm.
Speaking about the introduction of Serena, she said:’The Sugdens are a core part of the Emmerdale fabric, and we are thrilled to welcome Casey to the family.
‘Her character will be at the heart of some extremely gripping and unexpected storylines, forcing her to make difficult choices that will have dramatic consequences for some of the village’s biggest names.’
Casey was equally as excited to get stuck in, saying: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining such an iconic show and playing a Sugden! Serena is a fantastic character with so much going on beneath the surface. I can’t wait for the audience to see the drama unfold.’
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