Emmerdale Celia's true identity and link to Ray as star reveals more drama ahead

A new villain has been confirmed amid Emmerdale's County Lines storyline - and not everyone saw it coming.

Celia, introduced as a new farmer weeks ago, has been the mastermind behind the drug dealing operation seemingly orchestrated by dodgy Ray the entire time. Not only that but there's a family link, with Celia being Ray's 'mum' in that she raised him after finding him on the streets years earlier.

Ray isn't the one in charge, and his fierce behaviour is all an act as shown when Celia reduced him to a cowering wreck. It's Celia in charge, and she's been the one behind everything amid teens April and Dylan being dragged into Ray's dealing scheme.

Thursday's episode saw Celia getting involved amid April accidentally dropping drugs at her home, causing an incident with her younger brother Leo. But as April decided to reveal all about Ray and the drugs, Celia appeared.

READ MORE: Emmerdale fans left in shock as villain 'spotted' in Coronation Street

READ MORE: Emmerdale Aaron and Robert stars tease a Robron wedding as they reunite on-screen

Soon her whole persona changed, and she rather sinisterly threatened the teen. Attacking her, Celia talked about April threatening to bring down her entire operation and vowed to stop her.

Forcing her to lie to the police about where the drugs came from, she threatened April's life if she dared expose Ray or even her. Celia then wasted no time in telling her 'son' what she had to do to cover their tracks.

It's then that Ray's own mask slipped, and instead of the confident yet sinister villain we've seen for weeks, we saw a frightened man. Celia's control over him and the situation was evident and it is clear she is not to be messed with.

With the storyline set to continue and scenes no doubt leaving fans fearing what will happen to April and Dylan, Celia actress Jaye Griffiths confessed there was plenty more drama to come. She said: "At last the audience have seen the familial link between her and Ray and the fact she is the mastermind behind it all.

"There is lots more drama to come but I feel that the context of the whole operation is now apparent and so the audience will now be fearing how trapped these kids are as it’s very clear Celia and Ray are not beginners at this." Emmerdale have worked closely with The Salvation Army for this storyline.

Elsewhere in the episode we saw Robert Sugden attempting but failing to tell his secret husband Kev about his reunion with his ex-husband Aaron Dingle. As he saw Kev falling apart over the news he is dying, Robert couldn't break his heart.

But spoilers tease Robert could be "dicing a dangerous game as he attempts to juggle two ex-husbands", keeping Kev and Aaron in the dark about each other. But how long before one of them finds out the truth, or perhaps both of them?

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and Threads.