(Image: ITV)
Emmerdale's Ross star reveals 'traumatic' revisit of heartbreaking death as April kidnapped
by Jessica Sansome · Manchester Evening NewsEmmerdale star Mike Parr has revealed details on the 'traumatic' revisitng of a past storyline which sees April Windsor being kidnapped. It's been revealed that the teen will become the target of illegal boxing boss Jade.
The villain returns to the ITV soap nect week and set about proving just how dangerous she is as she thinks he has something to do with the missing £10,000 from the previous boxing matching between him and Billy Fletcher that ended up being busted by the police following a tip-off.
Accoroding to spoilers, lording his closeness with Moses over the livid Ross, Mackenzie Boyd is pleased to have the stolen cash to provide for his family. Meanwhile, Jade paints a grim picture of the trouble Ross will face if he doesn’t come up with the cash she claims has been stolen, despite his protests he didn’t take it.
Accusations quickly fly over who took Jade’s stolen cash as John Sugden inadvertently covers for the guilty Mack, but needled by Jade about Charity Dingle and April, a fearful Ross is warned of the rising threat to his family if he can’t return Jade’s money. While Ross unsuccessfully tries to convince Charity to take Moses away for a while to protect him, a frustrated April remains oblivious to the sinister nature of Jade’s presence.
Frustrated after her dad Marlon Dingle rejects her request to go into town after school, April reluctantly accepts a lift from the seemingly friendly Jade but soon, a video call from Jade reveals she has kidnapped April.
Ross persuades Billy to lend him his car, insisting he must go alone to rescue April despite lacking the necessary money. After receiving a location pin from Jade, Ross is overwhelmed with dread upon realising he is headed to a place intimately connected to his past - the loss of April's mum Donna.
Haunted by flashbacks to Donna’s death, Ross is terrified to find April, tearfully held near the edge of a car park by one of Jade’s goons, as Jade continues to demand the money he doesn’t have.
(Image: ITV)
When asked about revisiting Donna's death, Mike, who only recently returned to the role of Ross in the Dales, told the Manchester Evening News and other press: "It’s hugely traumatic for him. It brings back the worst memories. Seeing somebody die, especially the first girl who’s ever loved you and your first experience with love - to fall off a roof chained to a paedophile!
"It’s quite a traumatic event for him. Obviously, when there’s a kid on the line Ross has a great connection with her, due to her being Donna’s daughter."
Asked if his thinks Ross feels an obligation to April because of that, Mike said: "It’s very stressful. He feels like he’s some sort of big brother, paternal figure in her life even though he hasn’t seen her for a little while. It is largely down to his relationship with Jade that this happens. Even though it isn’t really his fault the money goes missing, he still feels responsible for it."
Speaking about Ross' feelings for Donna, who died in 2014 by throwing herself and Gary North from a multi-storey car park, Mike shared: "I think that was his first experience of love. When love is snatched away from you, you’re always going to glamourise it and think about what could have been.
"We have a director here called Duncan Foster. There was a scene after Donna has died and Ross is back in his old house and the director, Duncan Foster, came up to me. It was a brilliant note. I was listening to music and trying to get into the headspace and he came up to me and said, ‘She’s the only girl who’s ever loved you.’ Because he didn’t have much of a relationship with his mother because she went through postnatal depression. So nobody lives up to Donna in his eyes."