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Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) continues to struggle in the aftermath of being raped by Craig Reed (Ben Addis) in Emmerdale.<\/p>\n
Her feelings of shock and betrayal that her childhood friend, the father of her baby Toby who died at birth, could do such a thing have been compounded by guilt. Lydia worried that she might have led Craig on or encouraged him in some way, although she very firmly told him that she was happily married and she didn\u2019t want sex with him.<\/p>\n
Having to go back to work in the office where the attack took place makes everything much harder, as Karen Blick told us.<\/p>\n
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\u2018She has a physical response, kind of post traumatic stress as a result of what she\u2019s been through. Seeing him again brings up the images of what happened, the thoughts, the feelings regarding that. So she\u2019s trying to process that.\u2019<\/p>\n
Karen commented that Craig\u2019s attitude after the rape totally influences Lydia\u2019s responses to what\u2019s happened and how she deals with it.<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s the place where it happened, seeing the perpetrator who\u2019s denying it even happened and her version of events. She\u2019s being gaslighted and that\u2019s just compounding her day to day life and how she\u2019s able to cope or not cope. The self doubt, the feelings of guilt, people are not going to believe her. As time progresses for Lydia that becomes worse.\u2019<\/p>\n
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It also affects her family as Lydia is unable to confide in Sam (James Hooton) about what\u2019s happened and emotionally shuts down. He has no idea why she\u2019s behaving differently towards him and makes plans to go to Ireland. Sam does his best to reconcile with his wife before he leaves, but he feels she\u2019s pushing him away \u2013 and wonders whether Craig has replaced him in her affections.<\/p>\n
\u2018They\u2019re a really strong, solid couple who absolutely love each other dearly,\u2019 Karen told us. \u2018They are soul mates. Lydia\u2019s biggest fear is how will Sam view her once he knows what\u2019s happened. Will he look at her in the same way? That\u2019s what she fears. because she feels so bad about what happened and she worries about how Sam will feel about her. Will Sam believe her? All sorts of things go through her mind.\u2019<\/p>\n
As Sam leaves for Ireland, worrying about his relationship with his wife, Karen said that this is a complete low point for Lydia.<\/p>\n
\u2018Lydia is terrified this could mean the end of her marriage to Sam, which is her absolute world,\u2019 she explained.<\/p>\n
\u2018And the end of being part of the Dingle family which means so, so much to Lydia. She grew up in care, in isolation, she\u2019s estranged in many ways from her own family, so the Dingles are her absolute world.<\/p>\n
\u2018In terms of their marriage going forward, I really hope they can support each other and come out the other end.\u2019<\/p>\n