Maya Stepney

Maya Stepney was a history teacher at Hotten Academy who was in a relationship with David Metcalfe following the breakdown of her marriage to local GP, Liam Cavanagh. Maya groomed David's sixteen-year-old former step-son and also her pupil, Jacob Gallagher, and manipulated him into believing that it was a proper full-blown legal relationship.

2018: Arrival in Emmerdale
In March 2018, Maya, Liam and Liam's daughter Leanna went for dinner at David's Shop as shop owner David Metcalfe wanted to suck up to Liam as he was on the judging panel for the Hotten Retail Awards. Everyone was enjoying themselves until David's wife Tracy, thinking David was ashamed of her, blurted out she used to work as a prostitute. Maya, Liam and Leanna made their excuses and left.

2018: Relationship with David
Maya and David began meeting again in June 2018, and Maya confided in David that she and Liam were having marital problems. She and David bonded over their marital problems, and began an affair. However, Liam found out and nearly punched David. Tracy also discovered the pair together and told David that she no longer wanted a reconciliation. Despite this, David and Maya struck up an affair. However, not long after. David told his father Eric Pollard that his relationship with Maya was a mistake. Maya found out that Tracy had terminated his child without his knowledge, and comforted David, leading to a vulnerable David to sleep with Maya again.

Maya and Liam divorced and Maya found herself homeless as Liam had sold their house, which was in his name. David allowed Maya to move in and she agreed, until David mistook Maya for Leyla Harding and pounced on her. Maya was reluctant to trust David again and found somewhere else to live temporarily.

In October 2018, when student Noah Dingle was forced out of his home by Kim Tate, Maya felt sympathetic towards Noah and gave him an opportunity to talk to someone. Maya helped Noah whilst his mother was busy at her granddaughter's bedside, doing things such as helping Noah home. Maya's employer Jessie Grant was concerned with the way Maya and Noah's relationship would look and, despite David's step-son Jacob Gallagher and David defending her, Maya was instructed to see Jessie in her office after school the next day.

2019: Grooming
Maya then started grooming Jacob Gallagher when he was 15 and started having sex with him when he was 16. On 11th April 2019, Jacob's ex-girlfriend, Liv, who he had just dumped to be with Maya, walked in on them having sex. She then started blackmailing them for £5000. Though this was later increased to £10000.

On the big night out (Episode 8457/8458), Maya was seen by Priya kissing. Priya then told Leyla and Tracy. Maya wasn't seen again until the flashback episodes where Maya accused Jacob of sexually assaulting her and threatened to call the police on him but the girls knew she was lying. Maya finally admitted to having sex with Jacob but claimed it was consensual. Leyla then hit her over the head with a rock after Maya boasted about her sex life with Jacob, but it was later revealed that Maya had survived and was in a hotel room with Jacob Gallagher, which was shocking as many people thought she had died.

After months of abusing Jacob into a relationship, she was finally arrested, suspended from her job, and carted off in handcuffs. It was then David's responsibility to inform the village of the crime she had been committing and everyone was horrified to hear what she had done, except for Liam who acted shifty about the news.

She then made a surprise return to the village and was spotted by Eric Pollard. Eric told her to end her relationship with Jacob or he'd call the police. Maya ended her and Jacob's relationship and admitted she used him.

In June 2019, Maya was later bullied by a group of Year 10 students. Noah found out about this, and informed Jacob. The two of them then went to where Maya was being bullied, and Jacob told the students to leave Maya alone. Once the students left, Jacob tried to get Maya's love back, but she initially denied it. Noah tried to get him and Jacob to leave, but Jacob told Noah to go home as well. He does so, and Maya then gets in her car and drives off. However, she later reverses the car back to where Jacob was, instructing him to "get in". During their drive in the car, Maya confesses that she still has feelings for Jacob and that everything she said to him in front of Eric Pollard was not true. They then kissed.

Maya is put on trial on 19th June 2019, and Maya was found guilty of her crimes, and sentenced to jail for a year, leaving a devastated Jacob watching her being put into a police car. Jacob shouted how much he loves her, but Maya didn't respond or look at him.