Emmerdale spoilers: Devastating Christmas ahead for Bob

Emmerdale love rat Bob Hope is set for an absolutely devastating Christmas, actor Tony Audenshaw has revealed.

His character – who’s been a village regular since he joined the soap in 2000 – will find himself penniless and on the verge of being made homeless during the festive period.

After being thrown out by both his estranged wife Brenda and his lover Laurel, he is then served a massive outstanding bill from B&B owner Eric Pollard.

“Bob has split up with his missus, which was his own fault for going off with Laurel. Now she has ditched him too, she’s seen the error of her ways. Brenda won’t have him back and wants an annulment from the marriage. He’s got no money – and that costs money!” Audenshaw told us at a recent Emmerdale press conference.

Unable to pay the hotel bill he will take desperate measures to buy Christmas gifts for his two youngest children and indeed to pay for a roof over his head.

In a last minute bid to raise cash, Bob will take a job as a Christmas elf, only to be left humiliated when he discovers that it is only a volunteer position.

“At Christmas eve he’s at the hospital, dressed like an idiot, he hasn’t got his kids any presents.

“He considers stealing presents from Father Christmas. Then he leaves and his car has been towed away with his wallet in it. So he’s had a pretty bad Christmas,” he said.

And when he pawns a watch to buy his children a video game, he is left feeling even worse when they open it on the day and say the game is for a console they don’t even have.

How bad will Bob’s situation get? Audenshaw says very bad indeed, and that it could be a case of karma for his cheating ways over the last year.

“I think he can go very low! He feels terrible but he’s aware it’s his own doing…It could change both ways though – it could get a lot worse. There isn’t a Christmas miracle, I’d say.”

The actor also addressed the backlash caused amongst some Emmerdale fans over his surprise affair with the much younger Laurel Thomas.

While he says he understands some of the criticism the plot received, he also says controversial storylines simply come with the territory of being in a soap opera.

“There were times during the affair and we were thinking, the way he’s behaving is terrible, just lying and lying and lying, but that’s what you’ve got to do. Playing a character in a soap isn’t about making your character popular, it’s doing what the stories are,” he said.

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