Bob squares up to Liam (Picture: ITV)

Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) ends up in hospital in future episodes of Emmerdale when he has a heart attack following a confrontation with GP Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) – the man who’s been having an affair with Bob’s partner Wendy (Susan Cookson).

Bob sees Wendy and Liam together in the street and thinks that their affair is still carrying on. He sees red and storms over to confront Liam and throws a punch at his rival.

‘It’s kind of done a little bit funny, it’s kind of like a play fight in a way, but he proper smacks him one,’ Tony Audenshaw told us. Following this, Bob collapses.

‘Bob over-exerts himself and has a heart attack and drops dead in the street,’ Tony explained. Liam quickly realises that Bob has had a heart attack and luckily there’s a defibrillator to hand which the GP uses to save Bob’s life.

Tony said that the stress of finding out about Wendy’s affair was part of the reason for Bob’s heart attack.

‘He’s undoubtedly been under a lot of stress for the last few months with various issues, Liam and Wendy probably being the biggest,’ he told us. ‘His daughter, Cathy (Gabrielle Dowling), has been going through the PMDD storyline. He’s had all the selling stuff to buy the B&B, opening a new business. All that going on. He’s had a hell of a lot but it’s definitely a factor.’

It also turns out that there’s an underlying issue going on with Bob’s health, Tony revealed.

Bob collapses in the village (Picture: ITV)

‘There is another factor as well which is something which is a symptom of blocked passages, blocked veins and arteries, which will unfold over the next few weeks.’

This is something that Bob’s been trying to ignore for some time, Tony said, as he’s been avoiding seeing a doctor. ‘There is a symptom which he’s not been talking about which is something he should have gone to the doctor about – which is obviously complicated by the fact that the doctor is the person who’s been having an affair with his girlfriend. So he really doesn’t want to go and see that doctor and it’s not something that he feels confident talking to Manpreet (Rebecca Sarker) about either.’

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It’s also something that he hasn’t been confiding in Wendy about, but Tony said he hoped that the future would be brighter for the pair now that Bob’s health issues are being brought into the open.

‘I do hope Bob and Wendy stay together,’ he said. ‘You’re going to see over the next few weeks and months relationship building coming out of the drama and the upset. Obviously there was a problem there, maybe quite a few problems. At least this big dramatic moment means they’re going to talk about the issues that they had and hopefully that might bring them closer.

‘He’s faced his own mortality and he’s got to try and make things work with Wendy.’

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Bob is rushed to hospital.