As Aaron beds John, it’s not the first mistake he’s made in his love life: here’s everyone Aaron has loved – and lost

Aaron Dingle thought with his pants in this week’s Emmerdale when he bedded his internet date on the side of the road without even finding out his name. The guy then drove off with Aaron’s keys, wallet and beloved hoodie.

As if all that wasn’t bad enough, when Aaron did find out his name, it turned out to be John Sugden. And yes, he’s a real Sugden, half-brother of Aaron’s ex, Robert. Oops.

But it’s not the first time Aaron’s love-life has been complicated. Let’s take a look at his romantic history.

Aaron and Victoria Sugden

Turns out, Robert and John aren’t the only Sugdens Aaron’s been with – he actually lost his virginity to Victoria. When Aaron first arrived in Emmerdale he hadn’t yet realised he was gay (or at least was trying to pretend he wasn’t). He and Victoria got together and had sex.

But when he found out she’d also slept with her foster brother, Daz Eden, Aaron dumped her.

He then turned his attentions to Holly Barton, but when he tried to blackmail her for sex it really put paid to any chance he might have had!

Aaron’s attraction to men first came to light when he and Adam Barton were involved in a car crash. Adam pulled away and Aaron immediately insisted Aaron had misunderstood and was imagining things. To prove it, he managed to get Holly to be his girlfriend after all.

Adam was not impressed given Holly was his sister. He tried to tell everyone what happened, but no one believed him. Angry Aaron confronted him about spreading rumours, but Adam insisted he wasn’t, he just didn’t want Aaron dating his sister when he’s gay. Holly and Aaron broke up soon after.

Jackson Walsh: Aaron’s first love in Emmerdale

Jackson was Aaron’s first true love. The pair met at a gay bar in Hotten but Aaron was still struggling with his sexuality. When Paddy worked out what was really going on between Aaron and Jackson Aaron beat him to a pulp.

Still, Paddy stood by him and encouraged him to accept his sexuality. But Aaron would not. However he continued to see Jackson.

Aaron then violently punched Jackson and got charged with assault when he thought Jackson was about to out him to the village. Aaron was sentenced to community service and eventually revealed he was gay. He and Jackson then got together properly.

Tragedy struck when Jackson told Aaron he loved him and then drove off, upset, when Aaron didn’t say it back. Aaron called him, Jackson tried to answer his phone and crashed. He got stuck on a railway line. He was horribly injured when a train hit a van which then smashed into his car.

Jackson was paralysed from the neck down. He and Aaron broke up briefly and Aaron went on dates with a man called Flynn Buchanan, but could not forget about Jackson. They reconciled and pledged their love for one another.

However, Jackson could not come to terms with his new state. He made the difficult decision to end his life. Reluctantly, Aaron and Jackson’s mum, Hazel, agreed to help. Hazel brought the drugs to Jackson, but couldn’t give them to her son. So instead, Aaron was the one who handed them over. Jackson took the pills and passed away.

In a video message, played at his funeral, he told the mourners that his death was his own choice. That meant Aaron and Hazel didn’t get into trouble for it.

Ed Roberts – the man Aaron left Emmerdale with

Rugby player Ed brought a minibus to the garage for Aaron to fix. After confusion over Aaron and Adam’s relationship, Ed and Aaron shared a kiss. However their first date was soured when Ed discovered Aaron helped Jackson to die.

Ed left, but later let Aaron explain himself. Aaron also showed him his self-harming scars. The couple spent the night together.

But things moved very fast for the pair when Ed revealed he was signed to a French rugby team and was leaving in four weeks. He asked Aaron to go with him.

At first Aaron said no, reluctant to leave his family. However after Adam started a fire at the garage, Aaron took the blame for his mate and fled to France with Ed in 2012 to escape prison.

When Aaron returned to Emmerdale in 2014, he and Ed had split up, but remained on good terms. And that’s when he met Robert Sugden.

Robert Sugden – Aaron’s true love?

At first, their relationship was horribly toxic. Robert was engaged to Chrissie White when he called Aaron to a layby to fix his car and then kissed him passionately. Robert later visited him at the garage and they had sex. However, Robert then firmly told Aaron he was straight!

Robert refused to leave Chrissie, but continued his affair with Aaron. Katie Sugden then got suspicious and Aaron, angry at Robert’s lack of commitment, engineered it so she would catch them kissing. However, the set-up led to Katie’s death.

Things got incredibly difficult between them after that. They were off and then on again and then off and then on, Aaron began over-exercising, running himself into the ground, and at one point Robert held him hostage and pointed a gun at him.

But after Robert was shot by Ross Barton things changed. It was Robert who got Aaron to confess his sexual abuse from his dad as a child. And Robert stood by him during the trial. He also helped Aaron get to know half-sister Liv Flaherty.

Though the pair still had their ups and downs – not least Aaron going to prison and Robert having a one-night stand with Rebecca White which resulted in him becoming a dad to little Seb – they married and settled down.

But their life together came to an end when Robert’s sister Victoria was raped by Lee Posner. Robert attacked her rapist, who died. Robert was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2019 and divorced Aaron to ‘set him free’. Robron were no more.

Lee’s brother Luke later confessed that he also attacked Lee on the same day he died, and Victoria thought that would be enough to see Robert free. But sadly, Rob decided not to pursue the case and he’s still in prison.

Aaron’s next love: Ben Tucker

Aaron began hooking up with random guys on dating apps in order to blot out the pain of the split. But by late 2020 Aaron was almost ready to move on. Coincidentally that’s when he reconnected with old school friend Ben Tucker. We say ‘friend’ but actually Aaron had bullied Ben and waged a campaign of homophobic abuse against him, so they weren’t really friends.

However, Ben forgave his former bully and the pair started a romance.

Liv – Aaron’s sister – caused a few troubles for the couple. Ben’s dad was an alcoholic and when Liv was struggling with drink, Ben didn’t want to be around her.

And the romance ended in tragedy when Ben became a victim of Emmerdale serial killer Meena.

Aaron and John Sugden in Emmerdale – a replacement Robert?

On Wednesday (August 7), Aaron went off to meet an internet date. But he was stopped in a layby – incidentally the same layby he first hooked up with Robert in – by a man with a broken down van.

Talk about coincidence, the guy was only Aaron’s date! So rather than go to the hotel, the pair just got down and dirty in the van by the side of the road, without even knowing each other’s name.

He certainly seems to be Aaron’s type – moody, brooding, somewhat aggressive, oh, and he’s also a Sugden! That’s Aaron completing the Sugden hattrick then!

John Sugden is the half-brother of Victoria and Robert – and this makes things really rather awkward indeed.

However, even when Aaron confronted John and asked what he was playing at, and then got a punch in the stomach for it, it seemed pretty clear there was plenty of sexual tension between them. So how long before they can’t fight that attraction any more – and this becomes very complicated indeed?

Read more: Moody John Sugden doesn’t make himself popular in Emmerdale

Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm.

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