Jo Sugden was the manipulative man-stealer who ended up being a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her husband Andy.
Jo made some friends, and a lot of enemies in her three years in Emmerdale, but when things got tricky, the locals all stepped up for her.
Here’s everything that happened in her time in the village.
Jo’s arrival in Emmerdale
Jo Stiles came to Emmerdale as the new receptionist at the vet’s and immediately caught the eye of some of the men in the village!
She hit it off with Danny Daggert but after they went on a date, he agreed he was too tame for a bad girl like Jo! And from there, it was clear Jo was trouble.
She invented an online girlfriend for Paddy. Jo had good intentions but things backfired when Paddy announced he was off to Portugal to meet Fireblade – the woman Jo had invented.
When Paddy came home with a woman called Toni, who claimed to be Fireblade, Jo was worried. She knew that Toni wasn’t Fireblade, but to point it out would mean admitting she’d been catfishing poor Paddy.
As it turned out, Toni was Danny’s cousin, and she and Paddy had twigged what Jo was doing and were paying her back!
Jo’s affair with Andy
Jo moved into Butler’s with Andy Sugden and his former wife Katie, who had reconciled but were struggling financially. There was chemistry between Jo and Andy, and eventually they began an affair.
When Katie found out, she was furious and moved out. Jo lost her job at the vet’s after she uncovered some dodgy dealings with invoices. Hari – the vet who was doing the dodgy dealings – fired Jo to keep his own secrets.
But despite that, Jo and Andy seemed happy. They even got engaged! But their wedding plans were disrupted when Andy confessed to arson!
He fessed up to setting the fire that killed his adoptive mum Sarah Sugden. Andy was sentenced to three years in prison and instead of their dream wedding, he and Jo tied the knot behind the walls of the jail.
Jo Sudgen all alone
While Andy was inside, Jo carried on looking after his daughter, Sarah, but they ran into trouble when Andy’s old cellmate Charlie Sellers arrived. He began harassing Jo and little Sarah, and making threats.
Terrified, Jo went to Sarah’s mum, Debbie Dingle, and asked for help. With some assistance from Chas, and local crime family the Macfarlanes, they scared Charlie off.
When Andy was paroled, he wanted Jo to adopt Sarah, but Debbie didn’t do the paperwork. Andy was fuming, but Jo let Debbie spend time with her daughter.
When Andy found out, he angrily went to get Sarah back. Jo tried to stop him, and he accidentally slapped her, giving her a black eye. Andy was horrified – or so he said – and promised never to do it again.
But things actually got much worse. Andy continued to hit Jo, even sending her to hospital.
Sweet-natured Sam Dingle realised what was happening, but when he told his family they didn’t believe him, until Sarah drew a disturbing picture!
Spinning lies
Desperate to stop the violence, Jo lied that she was pregnant. But of course Andy realised she wasn’t telling the truth and another scuffle broke out. This time, Jo retaliated, shoving Andy. He stumbled on to a farm tool and was impaled! Jo fled the scene, but Andy’s brother Daz found him and called an ambulance.
Andy managed to spin the whole thing to make himself appear the victim.
It was Val who managed to get through to Andy’s stepmum, Diane, in the end. And once Diane realised Jo was telling the truth, Katie followed after Andy got verbally abusive with her, too.
Realising she’d never be free of Andy, Jo planned to leave. She originally wanted to take little Sarah with her, but changed her mind at the last minute, and left the tot with Debbie instead.
After she’d gone, Jo gave a statement about Andy’s violence as part of his battle with Debbie for custody of Sarah. Jo’s written evidence meant Andy withdrew his application for custody. His divorce from Jo was finalised off-screen in 2009.
Who played Jo?
Jo Sugden was played by Roxanne Pallett. She’d appeared in Hollyoaks and A&E before she joined Emmerdale.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.
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