Emmerdale fans work out dark twist for Arthur Thomas and John Sugden

EMMERDALE fans predict a dark twist for Arthur Thomas as he tries to prove his maturity to John Sugden. 

Since returning from Australia, Arthur (Alfie Clarke) has had a huge crush on Robert and Victoria’s brother, John (Oliver Farnworth). So far, John has made it clear that he’s not interested in the 17-year-old, but ITV soap fans are convinced things will change as the storyline takes a dark turn. 

Emmerdale viewers have seen plenty of scenes between Arthur and John in the month of October alone, the most notable being when Arthur bragged about sleeping with John, who is significantly older than him.

Everything he said about their “romance” was a lie, but soap fans now believe that a deeper connection will form between the pair – but it won’t be good. 

Discussing Arthur and John’s connection in an online forum, fans discussed the possibility of John taking advantage of Arthur’s interest in him by manipulating him. 

“I suspect John is going to use Arthur at some point, now that he knows how easy it would be to manipulate/groom him,” one fan wrote. 

They added: “I don’t think John is interested in him romantically, but they’ve been thrown into each other’s orbit for a reason, and I’m not convinced it’s for anything good.”

Meanwhile, another Emmerdale viewer pointed out that fans still don’t know that much about John’s backstory, and they don’t know what kind of person he is, which has left them worried. 

“Maybe, just maybe, everything will be alright, but somehow I doubt it,” they said, agreeing with the first person.  

“I feel like so much of John’s character is entirely dependent on Robert. If Rob ever agrees to come back, I’m sure John will be revealed as a complete psychopath or something,” they added. 

As one fan pointed out, Arthur and John have been thrown into the same orbit on Emmerdale a lot recently. 

Could what started out as a harmless crush turn into something more?

This storyline began at the beginning of the month when Arthur told pal April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) that he’d slept with John. 

Unfortunately, Arthur’s mum Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) overheard the conversation and believed John had taken advantage of her teenage son, leading to a huge confrontation in The Woolpack. 

John staunchly defended himself, as Arthur refused to back down on his lie. 

“It’s no one’s business who I see,” Arthur told his mum.

But John chimed in: “It is if you go around accusing people. I’m seeing someone my own age. I’m not into lads like you.”

As she stormed out of the pub, Laurel promised to keep a watchful eye on the situation, but Arthur later confessed that he had lied about sleeping with John. 

In the café, he told Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) that he thought trying to impress John would make him appear more mature, but certainly didn’t expect things to get so out of hand.

Could John start to use this situation and start manipulating Arthur?

One fan was hopeful that nothing too dark would happen and said they believed this storyline was more about Arthur and his development as he matures as a teenager into adulthood.

“He is just doing what most lads do when they get to their teens. Exaggerate about how experienced they are because of peer pressure, they want to seem cool. It’s not that complicated,” the fan theorised.

“If Arthur was straight and lied and said he slept with Amy or someone, I’m sure people suddenly ‘struggling with Arthur’s behaviour’ would understand it completely,” they added.