Andy Sugden (also Hopwood) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, played by Kelvin Fletcher. He made his first on-screen appearance during the episode first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 4 July 1996. Andy was initially introduced as the foster son of Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby) and Sarah Sugden (Alyson Spiro), before formally being adopted into the Sugden family.
Appearing for 20 years, Andy emerged as one of the longest-serving characters in the programme's history. Across his tenure, his major storylines included accidentally causing the death of Sarah in a barn fire, a bitter feud with his adoptive brother Robert (Karl Davies/Ryan Hawley) and being framed for attempted murder which culminates in him fleeing the village. He was twice married to Katie Addyman (Sammy Winward), and engaged in domestic abuse towards his second wife Jo Stiles (Roxanne Pallet). A brief fling with Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) resulted in the birth of his daughter Sarah (Sophia Amber Moore), before their son Jack (Louis Webster/Seth Ball) is born to create a bone marrow donor for Sarah after she is diagnosed with fanconi anaemia.
Fletcher has received widespread critical acclaim for his performance as Andy, winning multiple awards and nominations for his role. Particularly, the character's more emotive and challenging storylines have earned Fletcher praise for his portrayal whereas Andy was considered one of the most popular soap opera characters throughout his tenure. Fletcher stepped down from the role to pursue new challenges and his final scenes aired on 16 August 2016.
Creation and casting Fletcher successfully auditioned for the role of Andy Hopwood, described as a young tearaway and friend of established character Robert Sugden (Christopher Smith). The character was initially scripted to appear in three episodes though Fletcher impressed producers with his performance and was offered a long-term contract. Fletcher had previously auditioned for the role of Jamie Armstrong in fellow ITV soap opera Coronation Street though lost out to Joe Gilgun before being invited to audition for Emmerdale a year later. Reflecting on this during his podcast Off Script, Fletcher said: "I once auditioned for Corrie. It was actually for a little boy called Jamie who Jack Duckworth took under his wing, and I was down to the last two with Joe Gilgun. He obviously got the role... A year later I ended up in Emmerdale and the rest is history".
Storylines Andy arrives in Emmerdale and is fostered by Jack (Clive Hornby) and Sarah Sugden (Alyson Spiro), but finds it difficult to settle with the Sugden family. While on-site at a quarry, his foot lodges on a rock and gets trapped, forcing Jack to rescue him. When his father, Billy Hopwood (David Crellin), visits Emmerdale, Andy is persuaded to move into a caravan with him and disown the Sugdens. Billy breaks his promise to change and returns to committing petty crimes, up to the point where he robs the local post office and ends up killing its owner – Vic Windsor (Alun Lewis). In light of Vic's death and the post office incident, Billy is arrested and Andy moves back in with the Sugdens.
By then, Andy has grown close with his Jack and Sarah's young son Robert (Christopher Smith). This continues as the pair grow concerned when Jack and Sarah begin arguing over the farm. Sarah is annoyed with Jack for keeping Andy and off school to work on the farm. The subsequent discovery that Sarah is having an affair with Richie Carter (Glenn Lamont) causes the family to break up. Jack is awarded custody of Robert while Sarah is awarded custody of Robert's little sister Victoria (Hannah Midgley). Andy decides to stay with Jack. When the farm faces financial ruin, Andy decides to set fire to the barn for the insurance payout. However, Sarah and Richie are in the barn; the fire ends up killing Sarah and putting Richie in hospital. Richie blames Jack for the fire, but withdraws his statement to protect Andy.
Andy soon begins dating Katie Addyman (Sammy Winward), and goes to a nightclub with her along with other local residents; Eve Jenson (Raine Davison), Marc Reynolds (Anthony Lewis), Ollie Reynolds (Vicky Binns), and Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth). Also involved on the trip is Robert (now Karl Davies), who has now resented Andy after learning the truth about how their mother died. When the group miss the bus, they steal a car and accidentally kill their headteacher Barbara Strickland (Alex Hall) along the way back to the village. They attempt to cover up their crime and burn the car. After living with guilt, the group confess and everyone apart from Marc – who was driving – is given community service. Katie's father Brian (Martin Reeve) disapproves of Andy and resolves to split them up. They decide to have a baby in an attempt to change his mind, but when Brian learns that Katie is pregnant, he sends her to live with her mother. She returns and moves in with Andy, but has a miscarriage. Despite this, she and Andy start planning their wedding. Katie, however, feels neglected by Andy working long hours and turns to Robert for excitement. Their affair is discovered by Victoria, as well as Andy's half-brother Daz Eden. However, Andy refuses to believe Daz and puts him into care – while Robert threatens Victoria into staying quiet until Jack eventually discovers the affairs. When the marriage fails, Katie and Robert admit their affair. Andy tries to shoot Robert, but hits Jack by mistake. He initially disowns Andy, but the pair are eventually reconciled after recounting that Robert and Kate are to blame due to their betrayal.
When Das returns, Daz invites him and his friend Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) to move in – needing the rent money. Debbie is attracted to Andy and loses her virginity to him. They start dating secretly, but then her family learn about this and Andy is confronted by Debbie's father Cain (Jeff Hordley) about the revelation. He later ends the relationship with Debbie after Cain threatens to lead Daz into criminal activities unless Andy leaves Debbie alone. Andy briefly dates Libby Charles (Ty Glaser) afterwards, but then discovers that Debbie has given birth to his baby – Sarah. He and Debbie soon break up, agreeing to keep in contact, but Debbie's decision to give Sarah to Emily Kirk (Kate McGregor) upsets Andy. Things get worse when Katie discover that Andy is Sarah's father. When she is involved in a car accident, Andy breaks up with Debbie to get back with her. They soon resume their relationship, annoying the Sugdens, but Andy later has an affair with Kate's new friend Jo Stiles (Roxanne Pallett). When he realises that he is using Jo to get revenge for Katie and Robert's affair, she manipulates him into continuing the affair. Emily returns Sarah to Andy; when Debbie finds out, she gives Andy custody.
Katie struggles to look after Sarah and start a stable business. Meanwhile, Andy sees Jo is better with Sarah and restarts their affair. Andy is about to tell Katie, when she announces that she could be pregnant; this turns out to be a false alarm. Andy tells her about his and Jo's affair. Katie throws them out but they return, since Andy is the leaseholder; Katie then moves out instead and moves her business to Home Farm. Andy and Katie subsequently separate.
Victoria (now played by Isabel Hodgins) begins looking for answers to the cause of Sarah Sr's death. In an attempt to force a confession, she douses the furniture in petrol and demands the truth; Andy confesses but a fire soon ignites. In January 2008 he is sentenced to three years imprisonment for manslaughter, Andy and Jo marry on 19 February 2008 in prison. Jack, Victoria, Daz, and Laurel are their guests and Ashley presides over the service. During Andy's incarceration, Debbie gets closer to Sarah and changes her mind about Jo adopting her. When Andy is released, he is angry to learn that Debbie has been allowed access and begins lashing out at Jo. The abuse continues for months and culminates in Andy getting seriously injured during a confrontation in a barn. Andy's family do not believe Jo initially but Daz and Victoria eventually see for themselves. After a suicide threat, Diane intervenes and arranges for Andy to get psychiatric treatment. Jo eventually leaves after Lee Naylor (Lewis Linford) helps her sell the farm equipment to fund her escape as Jo herself divorces from Andy off-screen in 2009.
Jack dies from a heart attack in Spain off-screen and leaves a letter for Diane to read at his funeral, in which he requests that Andy become the head of the family. Andy refuses at first but agrees after he sees Robert watching from a distance. When Robert sees Andy, he tells him that there was nothing for him in Emmerdale and leaves again.
Following Debbie's release from prison for allegedly murdering Shane Doyle, she requests more access to Sarah which Andy is unhappy about. Debbie warns him that she will not give up without a fight. During this time, Andy begins dating Maisie Wylde (Alice Coulthard), much to her family's chagrin. The hearing approaches and after realizing he cannot win, he withdraws his application for custody and Sarah goes to live with Debbie. Andy suffers a breakdown, letting the farm slide and is diagnosed with clinical depression. As time passes and he recovers, Andy works on rebuilding bridges with others in the village. He resumes work as a farmhand for the Barton family who take over the tenancy at Butlers and begins a relationship with Adele Allfrey (Tanya Vital) but this breaks down when Andy's temper and jealousy get the better of him; Adele leaves the village. Andy tries to reconcile with Katie and they sleep together on one occasion but Katie wants only to remain friends. Andy is jealous when Katie starts dating police officer Nick Henshall and is later accused of starting the fire that kills Viv and Terry Woods (Billy Hartman). It is later revealed Nick Henshall (Michael McKell) started the fire to try to frame Andy because of his previous crime. Henshall is arrested after kidnapping Katie and holds her hostage but she escapes when Henshall kills himself.
Sarah becomes ill and is diagnosed with Fanconi anaemia, a genetic disorder which could kill her without treatment. Debbie and Andy start looking for donors and find one but they pull out at the last moment. It is suggested to them that another baby or 'Saviour Sibling' could save their sick child. They apply for IVF but are turned down when the hospital learn that they are not a genuine couple as they need to be to qualify for funding for IVF. Debbie then suggests they try artificial insemination despite their partners Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) and Alicia Gallagher (Natalie Anderson) being unhappy. Their attempts are unsuccessful. Debbie believes the only way to conceive is for them to sleep together. Andy eventually agrees, angering Alicia who leaves Andy; Cameron still supports Debbie. They plan to sleep together but Debbie walks out, leaving Andy humiliated. Desperate to save her daughter, she changes her mind later and seduces him, but doesn't tell Cameron and Andy is confused by his feelings for Debbie. Jealous of Cameron, he turns up at Tug Ghyll at every opportunity. Debbie discovers she is pregnant and Andy is delighted, while Cameron feels left out but believes the baby was a result of artificial insemination. Cameron becomes angry that Andy won't leave Debbie alone, and warns him to stay away.