Emmerdale: Robert Poaches Marlon and Mary for Hide

Spoiler warning: spoilers ahead for this week’s Emmerdale (2–5 November). Charity Dingle is about to get the shock of her week — because Robert Sugden has come shopping for staff, and he has his eye on the entire Woolpack kitchen.

Robert’s grand plans for The Hide

Robert has bought The Hide from Gabby and Laurel, and he is thinking big: a proper family business, serving meat reared on their own farm, with everyone mucking in. His first choice to run the kitchen was his sister Victoria — but a video call put paid to that idea. Despite Robert’s enthusiasm, and a bit of encouragement from Aaron, Victoria explained that she is happy in Portugal. After everything she went through earlier this year, she is simply not ready to come back to the village, and who can honestly blame her?

So Robert did what Robert does. If the chef he wanted would not come to him, he would go and find one closer to home — considerably closer, as it turns out.

The charm offensive on Marlon

Pub chef Marlon Dingle soon found himself on the receiving end of the full Robert charm offensive. The pitch was a tempting one: come to The Hide and have the freedom to put his own ideas into practice, rather than churning out the same pub grub day after day. To his credit, Marlon owned up to Charity that Robert was trying to recruit him from under her nose — and got a sharp reminder about where his loyalties ought to lie for his trouble.

It left Marlon chastened, but Robert was not done. The more the pair talked through what they could do with the place, the more Marlon’s eyes lit up. Ideas were flowing, plans were forming — and you could practically see the Woolpack slipping down his list of priorities.

The salary that stunned Aaron

Then came the crunch moment. Marlon named the salary he would want to make the move — and it was a hefty figure, the kind of number you quote when you half-expect to be laughed out of the room. Aaron was appalled when Robert simply agreed to pay it. No haggling, no hesitation. Robert wants his kitchen staffed, and he is clearly prepared to put his money where his mouth is.

Two notices on the bar

And then Charity got her double shock. It was not just Marlon handing in his notice — assistant chef Mary Goskirk announced she was going too. Both of them, off to work for Robert at The Hide. The pair clearly felt guilty about leaving, but it did little to soften the blow for Charity, who felt utterly betrayed. Her response was pure Charity: she turned on both of them before throwing Robert and Aaron out of the pub altogether.

So Robert has his team, the Woolpack kitchen is suddenly very empty, and family relations — never exactly warm — have taken another battering. You can catch up on how the rest of this week unfolded in our look at Sadie's downfall at Mill Cottage.

Team Robert or Team Charity on this one? And can the Woolpack survive losing its whole kitchen? Let us know in the comments below.

Next article Emmerdale: Sadie Exposed After Caleb Betrayal

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