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Celia snaps after son Ray’s crushing betrayal in Emmerdale | Soaps
Emmerdale’s Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) is very territorial when it comes to her property – which is how she’s always viewed her adoptive son, Ray Walters (Joe Absolom).
The two ruthless villains control a criminal operation trading in drug trafficking, exploitation and modern slavery. Running their shadowy empire from Butler’s farm, they exploit the desperate and the vulnerable by grooming forced labourers such as Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) into compliance, while using troubled teens like April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) and Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) to sell their drugs.
It’s a simple but effective working relationship. Smooth talker Ray is the face of the of the operation, while Celia is the brains – and the iron fist.
It’s a stretch to say the stone-hearted Miss Daniels is capable of trusting anyone. We’re talking about a woman ruthless enough to shoot her own dog for attacking Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) and then threaten the poor vet to stop him running to the law.
But the closest Celia comes to trusting anyone is Ray. It’s not a standard loving mother/son relationship, but she trusts his judgment, and trusts him to get the job done. At least she did.
Ray may be a lady’s man, but he’s never known love, warmth or affection, least of all from his mother. But in Emmerdale, he’s found it in the most unlikely of places – Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy).
In a brilliant twist, a man inhuman enough to make a living off the suffering of others has fallen for the sweetest girl in the village. Since Laurel’s taken to the dating scene, she’s started warming up to Ray and the two have been growing closer over the past few weeks. Ironically, Laurel is just the kind of girl you can bring home to mother, but Celia is not the kind of mother you can bring girls home to – not if you ever want to see them again.
Celia sees any kind of emotional connection as a sign of weakness, which is the last thing they need right now. With the cops closing in and too many growing suspicions among the villagers, they need to flee Emmerdale as soon as possible and start their operation again in pastures new.
For Ray, this means saying goodbye to the only genuinely positive emotional connection he’s ever made, and he can’t bear to do that. Not without having one last Christmas – his first real Christmas.
So he spent Christmas with Laurel, Jimmy (Nick Miles) and Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler), exchanging gifts, drinking and playing games. He even got Laurel a very expensive bracelet, prompting Jimmy to wonder if Ray makes all his money from crypto. Oh, if only he knew. But Laurel was delighted with Ray’s gift, and they shared a festive smooch.
But Christmas is just another day for Celia, and on Boxing Day, she was less than thrilled to hear from a clueless Jimmy that Ray spent December 25 with Laurel.
Later in the Woolpack, she confronted her son over his Christmas Day celebrations and accused him of having divided loyalties. As Ray insisted he’s got his priorities straight, Laurel arrived all bright and breezy.
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But Celia quickly made her displeasure over Ray’s festive absence known. On the spot, Laurel stammered, ‘I thought…’ causing Celia’s mask to slip as she snapped back with a barb so sharp you could slice it up to make a festive gin fizz: ‘Try not to, dear. It doesn’t suit you.’ Ouch!
Laurel’s made an enemy of the most dangerous woman in the Dales. The question is, where do Ray’s loyalties really lie?
MORE: Christmas Day shock rocks the Dingles in Emmerdale as Celia closes in
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MORE: Emmerdale favourite fears Ray will kill them all as future looks bleak
