The end of RobRon? Emmerdale star Ryan Hawley QUITS Robert Sugden role after five years

13 June 2019, 06:58 | Updated: 13 June 2019, 07:07

By Emma Gritt

@emmagritt

The actor, one half of Dales couple Robron, will leave the ITV soap later this year according to new reports - and fans are devastated.

Emmerdale actor Ryan Hawley has quit the soap after five years - and fans are devastated.

The 33-year old's character Robert Sugden is one half of the show's most beloved couples with Danny Miller's Aaron Dingle - with their relationship at the heart of some of the programme's biggest storylines.

The Sun reports that Ryan will bid farewell to the Yorkshire-based soap later this year.

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A source told the paper: "Emmerdale fans have loved every minute of RobRon’s story, and what Ryan has brought to playing Robert.

“But he has decided to take a break from the show for the foreseeable future and try other projects.

“He will leave later this year, but fans can expect to see him on screen right up until the end of the year. He will be sorely missed.”

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Ryan is the fourth actor to play the troubled farmer's son.

Since he joined the show in 2014, he has been involved in dramatic plots including accidentally murdering his sister-in-law after she took a photo of him kissing then-secret lover Aaron while he was engaged to Chrissie White - who he later had a doomed marriage with.

He was also shot by Ross Barton, impregnated a woman while his future husband was in prison before later attempting to kidnap the tot, as well as two weddings - one symbolic, one legal - to his Dingle hunk.

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The Sheffield actor has earned a string of awards for the role, including Best Soap Actor at the TV Choice Awards in 2017.

However, it's his romance with Aaron that has most endeared him to fans, who have taken to Twitter in their droves to lament the news.

One wrote: "Okay but what is even @emmerdale without #robron #Emmerdale #ryanhawley Stop this please let it be fake news."

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Heart.co.uk has contacted Emmerdale reps for comment.