Emmerdale fans are shocked at the growing closeness between 15-year-old Jacob Gallagher and his teacher Maya Stepney, who also happens to be his father’s girlfriend.
Fans have been posting their concerns on Twitter about the age of the two actors.
Joe-Warren Plant, who plays Jacob, is sixteen in real life and Louisa Clein, who plays Maya, is 39.
@emmerdale The actress who plays Maya is 39 and the actor who plays Jacob is 16. This story is so inappropriate for the actors to do #emmerdale
— OoohThings! (@CuriosityRocks) November 15, 2018
Yeah I thought even the actors playing 16 year olds, had to be 18+ in real life to do certain scenes like that, especially with older actors/actresses..
— Dean Pullen (@DeanPOfficial) November 15, 2018
Yeah, this is making me insanely uncomfortable. There is no way they should have this underage actor kissing a woman who is almost 40.
— Just me (@captainbob219) November 16, 2018
As important and relevant as this storyline is.. I still can’t shake the fact that Jacob is actually 16 and Maya is fully double his age in real life! I could’ve lowed it if he was 18, but 16? He’s still a baby fam.. 🤷🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🙅🏾♂️ #justsaying #itsabitweirdennit
— “Ab-ee-osa” (@realabioseh) November 18, 2018
However, some fans don’t see an issue with the actors carrying out this storyline as Joe is not technically underage. The young actor turned 16 earlier this year.
#emmerdale The maya/Jacob storyline has obviously been deeply thought out and both actors have discussed it at great length,Jacob is obviously mature for his age. Yes he’s 16 in teal life so any talk of paedophilic activity is plain ridiculous.
— Gerry h. (@greyfox63) November 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/birdzwatcher/status/1063870819770736640
Although it's a little weird, he's not actually underage.
— Dean Pullen (@DeanPOfficial) November 17, 2018
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen Jacob develop a crush on the school teacher, however last week Emmerdale fans were shocked to see 15-year-old Jacob kiss Maya after she poured him a glass of champagne.
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They were even more concerned when Maya didn’t pull away immediately.
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Fans are disturbed that she is keeping the kiss with Jacob a secret and think it’s heading down the path of grooming.
Jacob has been trying to make Maya jealous by telling her and his dad David Metcalfe that he’s dating Liv Flaherty. Viewers know that Liv is struggling with her sexuality and her relationship with Jacob is strictly platonic.
It doesn’t look like Jacob’s feelings for Maya are going anywhere. Next week he fails to see the funny side of David’s dating advice and storms off leaving David suspicious. Maya follows Jacob and the pair have a heart to heart but will she put an end to Jacob’s infatuation?
What do you think of the Maya and Jacob storyline? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.