Robert Sugden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. The character originally appeared on the show regularly between 22 April 1986 and 3 October 2005. During that time he was first played as a baby by Richard Smith between 1986 and 1989 before the role was taken over by Christopher Smith from 1989 until 2001. In 2001, Karl Davies took over the role in order for the character to become involved in more adult storylines, as he grew older. Davies briefly reprised his role as Robert for one episode, airing on 10 February 2009, when he returned for the funeral of his father and Emmerdale longest-running character, Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby). The character returned on 23 October 2014, with actor Ryan Hawley taking over the role. Robert made his return to the show on 28 May 2025.
During his first stint, Robert has embarked on a longstanding feud with his adoptive brother Andy Sugden (Kelvin Fletcher) after discovering he started the fire that killed their mother Sarah Sugden (Alyson Spiro). Their rivalry led to the events of Robert having an affair with Andy's wife Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward), whom he later cheated on by sleeping with her rival Sadie King (Patsy Kensit), and culminated with him causing the tragic death of Max King (Charlie Kemp) after the pair tried to kill each other by running the other down in their own vehicle. Robert subsequently left the village to avoid going to prison for Max's death, but came back briefly for Jack's funeral in February 2009. The character returned to the series on 23 October 2014, and became the show's main antagonist throughout 2015. During that year, Robert had an affair with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller), which led to the events of Robert accidentally killing Katie on the day he married Chrissie White (Louise Marwood); embarking on a feud with Aaron's mother Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) and Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt); getting beaten up and blackmailed by Chas' brother Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley); and being shot by Ross Barton (Michael Parr) in the "Who Shot Robert Sugden?" storyline, in the light of his affair with Aaron and role in Katie's death both being exposed.
Following his shooting, Robert became one of the show's major protagonists as his relationship with Aaron dominated the events of the series. This long-running story arc involved Robert supporting Aaron upon discovering that he was sexually abused by his father, Gordon Livesy (Gary Mavers), as a child; becoming engaged to Aaron and later surprising him with an unofficial wedding between them in 2017; bonding with Aaron's half-sister Liv Flaherty (Isobel Steele), and temporally becoming her guardian after Aaron is arrested and sentenced to 12 months in prison – which involved Robert struggling to cope with Aaron's drug use amid serving his prison sentence; their marriage having a breakdown after Robert ends up sleeping with Chrissie's sister Rebecca (Emily Head); and the pair remarrying in 2018 after Robert and Aaron manage to reunite and reconcile over their differences.
During this time, Robert's storyline with Andy and the Whites concluded with him and Andy making amends after the pair nearly killed each other in a car-game of chicken; Robert clearing Andy's name after Chrissie framed the latter for shooting her father Lawrence (John Bowe), with the culprit being her son Lachlan (Thomas Atkinson); his one-night stand with Rebecca that results in her getting pregnant and giving birth to her son Sebastian; his scheme to con the Whites in a revenge plot; kidnapping Sebastian when he found out that Rebecca and her family were planning to emigrate with Sebastian without his knowledge, which led to the events of Lachlan causing the deaths of Chrissie and Lawrence in a road collision; being held hostage by Lachlan after he and his girlfriend, Cain's half-sister Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper), discover that Lachlan had killed their friend Gerry Roberts (Shaun Thomas) and allegedly murdered his false uncle Paul Tozer (Daniel Casey) for discovering that he caused the deaths of his mother and grandmother; helping Rebecca from her trauma of being kidnapped by Lachlan for months and later allowing her to leave the village with Sebastian to start anew with Ross, her new boyfriend (also Seb's potential father as no paternity test was ever taken); and supporting his sister Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) after learning that she had been raped by car salesman Lee Posner (Kris Mochrie). In the latter storyline, Robert ends up killing Lee after hospitalising him in retaliation for denying to have perpetuated Victoria's rape ordeal – which sparks the events of the character's impending departure from the show when Robert, after being detained and later pleading guilty to Lee's attack prior to his death, goes on the run to avoid going to prison for the murder he unintentionally committed.
Casting The character of Robert Sugden was introduced as the second son of Jack (Clive Hornby) and Pat Sugden (Helen Weir). He made his first on-screen appearance on 22 April 1986 as a baby. Initially played by Richard Smith, after three years on the show the character was recast and Christopher Smith took over the role. Christopher Smith remained in the role for twelve years between 1989 and 2001, making him the longest actor to play the character. During the 1990s, he was only involved in small storylines, including Sugden's decision to not work on his father's farm and his stepmother Sarah's (Alyson Spiro) death in 2000.
In May 2001, Christopher Smith was axed from the role after twelve years. ITV announced that they were casting an older actor in the role of Robert in order to involve him in more adult storylines. The character returned in August 2001, now played by Karl Davies. In September the same year, Smith sued Yorkshire Television for unfair dismissal from the role of Robert.
Development Karl Davies's reign as Robert increased the character's popularity as well as establishing the character as a sex symbol. Much of Davies's time on Emmerdale centred upon his long-standing feud with adoptive brother Andy Sugden (Kelvin Fletcher), which was used by Emmerdale producers to compete with rival soap opera EastEnders. His popular relationships with Donna Windsor, Andy's wife Katie Sugden and Debbie Dingle, established him as a bad boy, but the storyline which saw him leave his love interest Elaine Marsden for dead in a car accident, led to him being described as "an out-and-out villain" by critics. In mid–2005 it was announced that either Robert or Andy Sugden. Max King (Charlie Kemp) would be killed in a car accident that would take place in October of that year. The decision to kill off one character came after actor Charlie Kemp quit the show and producers decided to have Karl Davies written out of the soap. The episode which took place on 2 October 2005 saw Max killed while in Andy's land rover, after he grabbed the wheel when Andy and Robert began driving towards each other at high speed after Andy thwarted Robert's plan to escape the village with Andy's daughter Sarah and Sarah's mother Debbie Dingle. The following episode saw Robert leave the serial to avoid trouble with the police.
Return Karl Davies was asked to return to the show four years following his initial departure from the show, for one episode centred on the funeral of his on-screen father Jack Sugden, following the death of Jack's real-life portrayer Clive Hornby. Davies reprised his role as Robert on 10 February 2009, which saw him return to the village alongside grandmother Annie Brearly (Sheila Mercier), who had previously been absent from the show since 1996. Davies left the show soon after.
Reintroduction In an interview with Digital Spy in April 2014, Davies stated that he would not rule out a return to Emmerdale. He said he would "never say never". Davies told Digital Spy, "I'm still really glad to be working and to be part of some lovely stuff, so at the moment I'm very happy but who knows in the future? I love what I do and if that means a return to Emmerdale then so be it, but at the moment that's not on the cards." Davies also said that people still recognized and remembered him from his role in Emmerdale, saying, "It's still very much in people's memories – I don't quite know how! I've almost forgotten what I did, but people still linger on that. I guess it's 'cos you're in their house every night – six nights a week [or] whatever it was at the time. People still seem to remember that character – nearly a decade later which is very strange."
In September 2014 it was confirmed that Robert would be returning, but not played by Davies; instead the role was recast to Ryan Hawley. Series producer Kate Oates said: "I'm delighted to welcome Ryan to the show. Robert is a complex character and when we were looking for someone to take over the role, Ryan had the perfect balance of charm and edge, Robert Sugden's life has moved on in many ways... but those ingrained feelings – about his father, Andy, Katie, and the village where he grew up – are sure to find an explosive outlet."
Sexuality and relationship with Aaron Dingle ("Robron")
Following Robert's return and recast in 2014, the character showed romantic interest in Aaron Livesy as played by Danny Miller and has been portrayed as bisexual. Series producer Kate Oates spoke at an Emmerdale conference saying: "Chrissie [Robert's fiancée] doesn't know about the relationship with Robert and Aaron, and that's obviously going to be a long-burner. She doesn't know that her husband-to-be has this tendency that he also fancies men, so that might be a big surprise to her!" In an interview with Digital Spy she also said: "Robert is very different from his brother in that Andy can live in the terraced house in the village with the girl that he's always loved and be happy. He works as a farmhand on the farm where he grew up, he doesn't need any more and he's a really happy guy like that. Robert always wants more – there's never enough. He's in a position now where he's with Chrissie and he's in the big house on the hill. He's also got Lawrence in his back pocket now, but it's still not enough. Robert is still taking risks and seeking adrenaline. He just wants more all the time. I think Aaron is going to be a victim of that to a certain extent, but the attraction between them is genuine."
Praising Danny Miller and Ryan Hawley, Oates continued: "What I really like is that the lads have done a great job of creating that chemistry. In the scenes where they're together, you absolutely believe it and I think that they've done brilliantly with that. It's genuine to a point, but Robert will always be out for himself!"
Oates also revealed that she spoke to Karl Davies and offered him the chance to return. When he declined the opportunity, a decision was made to recast the role with Hawley in the part.
In an interview in December 2015, Danny Miller commented that the "power of Twitter" would keep the "Robron" storyline going. Paying tribute to Ryan Hawley, Miller said: "I'm very proud to work with him. He's been here a year now and he's been amazing. He's a good lad. I say too much about him, actually – I think people think I fancy him! But he's great – he's really good, and I think they know that. They've shelved the storyline for now, but I think they're quite keen to see it again."
Engagement