Emmerdale - Cathy and Heath Hope's real-life relation explained
Emmerdale spoilers follow.
2024 starts off with dramatic scenes on Emmerdale, as Cathy and Heath Hope risk a dangerous situation on the road.
Monday's hour-long episode (January 1) sees Bob's children travelling to a New Year's Eve party alongside Angelica King after deciding to steal Wendy Posner's car.
Twins Cathy and Heath were born in Emmerdale in 2007, welcomed by Bob and his then-wife Viv. Sadly, Viv died in the post office fire just a few years later in 2011.
In real life, it's also a family affair on set as Cathy and Heath are played by twins Gabrielle and Sebastian Dowling. (This isn't always the case in Soapland – Corrie's resident twins Asha and Aadi Alahan are played by Tanisha Gorey and Adam Hussain, who aren't actually related in real life.)
Amazingly, Gabrielle and Sebastian – who are now 17 – have been part of the Emmerdale cast since they were just a few weeks old.
They were supposed to play Cathy and Heath from the characters' births, but stand-ins had to be brought in for the initial episodes as Sebastian stayed in hospital for a week longer than planned.
Gabrielle and Sebastian took over their roles a few episodes later.
The pair's parents discovered that Emmerdale were searching for newborn twins while mum Louise was pregnant.
Louise told the Huddersfield Examiner in 2007: "You don't get opportunities like this every day and it will be something for them to look back on when they are older.
"I was a bit dubious at first because I wasn't sure what my husband would think about it. But Emmerdale has been fantastic."
Many soap stars introduced as babies eventually get recast – either through decisions from producers, or the kids in question moving away from the world of showbiz. However, Gabrielle and Sebastian have stuck around in Emmerdale for the past 16 years.
Speaking to Metro last year, Gabrielle enthused: "I've enjoyed having the opportunity to build the role that I've grown up with and develop the character of Cathy whilst learning from experienced actors and directors.
"I've been in the soap since I was 4 weeks old so it's second nature to me. It's one big family, everyone gets on and it's a great atmosphere to work in.
"The studio and village have been a huge part of my life along with my brother's. Having celebrated birthdays on set allowed me to feel close with the people around me and showed me how much of a family we are."
A few years ago, it became a long-running joke among Emmerdale fans that Cathy and Heath had disappeared, as they were rarely shown on screen while they were growing up.
Now that the characters are old enough to have more mature storylines, this has started to change in recent months.
The New Year episode sees Cathy tempted to drive dangerously during the joy ride as Heath encourages her to put her foot down.
Bob finds out about the stolen car and rushes to find the teens, but will he manage to track them down before disaster strikes?
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
Read more Emmerdale spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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