Emmerdale has some truly terrible parents in its character roster but some are a special kind of awful.
From abandoning their children, to abusing them, to setting them up for crimes – Jo Frost would have a field day with them all.
But who are the ITV soap‘s worst?
Read more: Emmerdale fans have shocking prediction about Leyla
Debbie Dingle
All hail the most selfish character to literally exist in Soapland.
Coming from the combined horror show that is Cain and Charity Dingle, Debbie was never going to be a stand-up member of society.
But by abandoning her child to *checks notes* find a garage manager in Scotland, only never to return is something else.
The child in question could drop dead at any moment and is currently going through hell with her great grandmother’s impending death.
And Debbie is never coming back. Mother of the Year!
Cain Dingle
There are so many things he has done to his various children – but let’s remember one particularly fun father and daughter bonding time that Cain did to Debbie.
Out of petty malice he seduced Debbie’s love Jasmine to hurt his own daughter.
It doesn’t matter what he’s done since or even before – that makes Cain easily the worst father in Emmerdale history.
Kim Tate
Who doesn’t occasionally fake their own death to destroy their only child’s self-esteem?
Admittedly she took a sweet innocent vet who just wanted to save bunnies and help horses and turned him into a raging monster in her own image, but her stunts for Jamie were particularly cruel.
Though there’s also her step-grandson, Joe Tate, to consider.
She ordered his death countless times and only let him live because she was forced to.
Read more: Complete Emmerdale cast list 2022 – meet them all here!
Al Chapman
It’s hard to keep track of who was more awful in this father and son relationship from hell but Al definitely has the edge.
The sheer number of times he blew up his own son’s life is astounding.
And he barely flinched when Ellis moved to the other side of the world – especially after bedding Priya again.
Want more spoilers from Emmerdale? Entertainment Daily has a dedicated Emmerdale spoilers section for you to get your fix before the latest episodes air.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!