Emmerdale character Laurel has struggled with alcohol addiction over the last few years. But when did her struggle begin?
In tonight’s episode (Wednesday, January 13) Laurel and Jai joined Meena and David celebrating their new relationship.
As Meena tried to get Laurel to have a drink with her, she rejected her offer.
Meena thought that Laurel was pregnant, however Laurel told her she’s in recovery from alcohol addiction.
Read more: Emmerdale: How did Debbie and Al get together?
Laurel accidentally ended up taking a sip from an alcoholic cocktail, mistaking it for her orange juice.
But Jai assured Laurel that it was an accident.
When did Laurel’s struggle with addiction begin?
Emmerdale: When did Laurel’s alcohol addiction start?
In 2014, Laurel married Marlon Dingle. Donna Windsor, Marlon’s ex and the mother of his daughter April, died in the same year.
Laurel ended up kissing her ex-husband Ashley and discovered Marlon kissed Donna, when she was alive.
The stress of everything began to take a toll on Laurel and she began drinking.
She ended up losing her job at the factory and she struggled to keep her alcoholism a secret from Marlon and her dad Doug.
However things took a terrible turn when Laurel put vodka in her orange juice, which April ended drinking. She rushed the little girl to hospital but manipulated her into not telling Marlon happened.
A few weeks later Marlon realised she hadn’t stopped drinking when she choked on her own vomit and had to be taken to hospital.
Whilst she was in hospital recovering, April told him about the incident with the orange juice.
But things just got worse. When Marlon confronted Laurel, he gave her some harsh home truths, leading to her punching him in the face.
It turned out Laurel had detached Marlon’s retina in his eye when she punched him, leading him to go into hospital.
Later, in a drunk state, she ended up running over Marlon’s dog Daisy. After he threw her out, she soon ended up sleeping with a man after a one-night-stand, which led to her contracting an STI.
Read more: Emmerdale: When did Marlon and Rhona have a relationship before?
Getting help
Laurel eventually got help after she had a huge meltdown and admitted she was an alcoholic to Ashley.
In 2018 her addiction was revisited following an argument with her secret lover Bob. She grabbed a bottle of whisky and considered drinking again.
However she has managed to stay sober over the last few years.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.
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