Emmerdale spoilers: Chas’ devastating regret as she speaks to late mum Faith in heartbreaking moment
Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) had a huge amount on her mind in Monday (January 29)’s Emmerdale, as she tried to come to terms with the breast cancer diagnosis that she was given last week.
She’d also had a genetic test to see if the type of cancer she has is hereditary. She hasn’t had the results yet, but she confided in Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) her fears that it could be.
Her mum, Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter), died of breast cancer in 2022. She’d told Moira (Natalie J. Robb) that it wasn’t genetic, but Chas was now worrying that Faith could have lied – after all, her mum’s Aunt Flossie had died young. Could that have been from the same type of breast cancer?
If there did turn out to be a genetic link, Chas worried about what it could mean for her brothers Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Caleb (William Ash). Were they at risk? Would they need to be tested? This was all a lot to deal with and Liam tried his best to be reassuring. His advice was to try not to worry about the genetic test until she had the results, but he strongly recommended that Chas should tell her family about her diagnosis. She needed as much support as she could get.
There was one family member who Chas dearly wanted to talk to, and that was Faith. Taking a teddy bear to the grave of her daughter Grace, Chas lamented that Faith had no gravestone she could visit.
‘I wish I’d never shot you up there in that firework, Mother,’ she said. ‘At least if you were six feet under I’d have somewhere to go to ask you all these questions.’
When Faith died her ashes were made into a firework so she could have the kind of spectacular send-off that would befit her personality.
But when the time came, there was such a rift between Chas and the rest of the family because of her affair with Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) and her betrayal of Paddy (Dominic Brunt), that Chas took the firework and set it off herself – from the very spot by Grace’s grave.
Now she spoke up into the air, trying to find a connection with Faith. She told her that she’d had to lie to everyone she loved, just like Faith had when she kept her diagnosis from her family – but she’d never needed them more. ‘But I’m not you,’ she concluded. ‘I can’t live a lie. Shouldn’t have to, either.’
Her chance to tell the family came soon after when she found Charity (Emma Atkins), Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb), Cain, Moira, Caleb, Ruby (Beth Cordingly), Liam and Aaron (Danny Miller) in the Woolpack. Gently encouraged by Liam, she told them what was going on.
‘I’ve been lying to you all for weeks. I’m not very well. I’ve got cancer. I’ve got cancer like mum.’
Everyone was stunned. While Caleb immediately offered to pay for private treatment to her, Chas insisted she’d get the same treatment on the NHS. Most importantly, she said, every day was precious and she hated the fact that Cain and Aaron were ripping each other apart.
Everyone looked to Aaron for a response. He looked like he was trying hard to control his emotions, and when he didn’t say anything Cain accused him of being a coward like his dad.
This was the worst thing Cain could have said – Aaron’s dad Gordon Livesy was a vile individual who abused Aaron and died in prison.
At Cain’s words, Aaron turned round and walked out of the pub. Chas rushed after him but couldn’t catch him.
Will Aaron ever be able to support his mum like she needs him to?
