ITV Share By Joel Harley 30th March 2025 By Joel Harley 30th March 2025 The best mums in Emmerdale - and some of the worst Mum's the word Emmerdale Emmerdale Cast Share By Joel Harley 30th March 2025 By Joel Harley 30th March 2025 In a village packed with families of all shapes and sizes, Emmerdale is teeming with all manner of family dynamics – with more complicated and fractured relationships between mums, dads, sons and daughters than you might expect to find in a small city. From Dingles struggling to keep track of their clan to Bartons attempting to smother theirs to death, Emmerdale mums are a different breed. And, as the soap continues to concentrate on these dynamics – with the relationship between Ruby and Steph finally on the mend – join us as we take a look at some of the best and worst Emmerdale mums. Moira’s a devoted mum, when she’s not coddling her man-child husband (Credit: ITV) Best – Moira Dingle Juggling cancer and a philandering husband, Moira still found time to be one of the soap’s most devoted mums, always putting her children before herself, even with her health seriously faltering. Moira was originally introduced as a mum of three, before daughter Holly suffered a tragic overdose in 2016. Holly returned to screens, after a fashion, last year to visit her mum while she underwent an operation to remove her brain tumour. Charity tried to warn Noah about Joe (Credit: ITV) Best – Charity Dingle Charity has come a long way since the soap revealed her to be the estranged mum of Debbie. She’s since proved herself as no-nonsense mum to her brood – extended to include Ryan, Noah and Moses. Recently, Charity became convinced that Noah’s half-brother, Joe, was up to something, and dedicated herself to getting her son out from under his thrall. article continues below Read all the latest spoilers Charity’s best efforts convinced naive Noah not to go through with his ill-advised move to Dubai, even setting Ross on Joe after he spiked him anyway. She may be a little overbearing sometimes (just look at granddaughter Sarah’s relationship with Kammy) but we should all be so lucky to have Charity on our side. Ruby and Steph have shared a volatile relationship over the years (Credit: ITV) Best – Ruby Fox-Miligan As mums go, Ruby was self-sacrificing to a fault – putting up with months of daughter Steph’s abuse after she returned into her life. As it turned out, Ruby was attempting to protect Steph from the truth about ‘granddad’ Anthony and what he’d done. Taking this to extremes, she even tolerated Anthony for Steph’s sake, until she could take it no more, and snuffed the old man out. Ruby revealed the truth to a shell-shocked Steph a few weeks ago. And while Steph has been understandably traumatised by the news, their relationship does seem to be on the mend for now. Rhona’s been a good mum to April (Credit: ITV) Best – Rhona Goskirk Village vet Rhona hasn’t had an easy lot in life, only learning last year that she had another daughter. It turned out ex-husband Gus had stolen some of her embryos so that he could have a child with his new wife. Said wife later died, and Rhona was appalled to learn what Gus had done. However, she wasn’t able to let go of the idea of baby Ivy. She soon realised she wanted to be a part of her life. While kidnapping the infant wasn’t her finest moment, Rhona ultimately succeeded in becoming a mother to Ivy, taking her into the family home once Gus was sent to prison for fraudulently using her embryos. In addition to Ivy, Rhona has proved herself a loving and attentive mum to son Leo, and has been a rock for troubled April during a tumultuous time. Dawn’s more interested in her affair with Joe than her family (Credit: ITV) Worst – Dawn Fletcher How the wind blows. Only last year, Dawn was struggling with the news that baby Evan had leukemia. Heartbroken at the doctors’ orders that she not feed her own son in case he caught an infection, the devastated mum sat vigil at his bedside throughout. Fast-forward less than a year (barely even six months!) and Dawn is engaged in a sleazy affair with Joe, risking her marriage to husband Billy and the life she’s built for children Evan, Clemmie and Lucas. All mums need to unwind sometimes, but, seriously… Joe?! Tina returned to throw her family’s lives into chaos (Credit: ITV) Worst – Tina Dingle She cleared off shortly after her return for Zak’s funeral, but Tina soon established herself as one of the soap’s all-time worst mums. It turned out that she was the biological mother of Vinny Dingle, having given him up as a child. However, a sweet reunion with her estranged son was the last thing on Tina’s mind. Instead, she was set on blackmailing Mandy (Vinny’s mum in every way that mattered) out of Zak’s will, thereby claiming the family home for herself. She revealed the truth to a disgusted Vinny, but he wanted nothing to do with her. We don’t blame him. Sandra was Liv’s alcoholic mum (Credit: ITV) Worst – Sandra Flaherty Another one that’s no longer on the soap, Sandra Flaherty is a contender for one of the worst soap mums of all time. Returning into daughter Liv’s life in July 2022, she initially claimed to be seeking help for her alcohol addiction. However, her ulterior motive soon became clear. Sandra wanted cash, and lots of it. Planning on scamming her daughter out of her inheritance, Sandra attempted to drive a wedge between Liv and husband Vinny. Her scheming fell apart as she resorted to an all-new low – getting Liv blackout drunk while she stole all of her money. However, the tables were turned when Liv revealed that she’d been onto her mum. She’d set up a trap to prove she was up to no good, and it had worked. Caught in the act, Sandra was tackled to the ground by a fuming Mandy, and carted off in the back of a police car. Emma is one of the soap’s most memorable mums (Credit: ITV) Worst – Emma Barton “My mother tried to smother me as a baby,” Ross Barton revealed in Friday night’s episode of the soap. “She drugged my dad and held him hostage and when he escaped.” He continued: “She pushed him off a bridge into traffic and killed him. She shot my baby brother and he died.” Need we say more? Of all the bad mums in Emmerdale, Emma Barton is perhaps the gold standard. Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale in 2025? A complete guide to departures, returns and new arrivals in the Dales 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. What do you think of our story? Visit our Facebook page @emmerdaleinsider and let us know what you think! Share this:Click to share on X (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Good to Know Share By Joel Harley 30th March 2025 By Joel Harley 30th March 2025
