Charley Webb has ruled out an imminent return to Emmerdale, saying there are no plans for her to go back at the moment. Speaking on the Live Laugh Luke podcast, the former Debbie Dingle actor said the timing is not right while the soap sits in the middle of a major baby plot.
“Not at the moment, no,” Webb said. She added: “There's no plans for me to go back just because I think it wouldn't be the right time.”
Debbie Dingle and 2021
Webb said she had been asked to return to Emmerdale a few times, but still drew the line at a comeback now. “Having three kids is a lot. Also working there is a lot. So, not at the moment, but never say never,” she said. “But again it just wasn't the right time,” she added.
Debbie was last seen in the village in 2021, and Webb’s remarks land while speculation has been building around Charity Dingle’s story. The show’s current plot has Charity agreeing to be the surrogate for Sarah Sugden and Jacob, which has kept absent characters in the frame even without a formal return.
Charity Dingle’s baby story
That storyline has a hard edge. Sarah and Jacob do not know that baby Leyla is biologically Charity’s daughter with Ross Barton, and Dr Caitlin Todd found out before blackmailing Charity to keep quiet and assaulting her. Webb addressed that pressure directly, saying: “There's quite a big story at the moment with the girl that played my mum having a baby and everyone's like, 'You would be there. You would be there.' And I'm like, 'Well, I'm not right now,'”
For viewers, the practical reading is simple: Debbie is not part of this chapter, and Emmerdale is not building toward a quick off-screen return to plug her into it. The soap airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX, so any change in Webb’s position would likely surface in the same interview circuit before it ever reaches the screen.
