Not to be confused with his late adoptive grandfather Jack Sugden.
Jack Sugden is the son of Debbie Dingle and Andy Sugden and a saviour sibling to his sister Sarah Sugden. He is named after Andy's late adoptive father.
Storylines
2011-2012: Conception and birth
Jack was born after Debbie and Andy decided the only way to save their daughter Sarah was to have a saviour sibling after Sarah was diagnosed with fanconi anaemia, a rare blood disease. Debbie and Andy began trying to conceive a sibling for Sarah in late 2011 after their only bone marrow donor match pulled out and they were turned down for IVF. The worried parents started artificial insemination despite objections from Debbie's boyfriend, Cameron Murray, and Andy's girlfriend, Alicia Gallagher. After a few months of artificial insemination, Debbie was still not pregnant so she decided that the only way to save Sarah was for her and Andy to sleep together. The pair slept together in mid-January 2012, and a fortnight later Debbie discovered she was pregnant. Two months after that, Debbie and Andy discovered their baby was a match for Sarah.
In late September Debbie demanded to be induced after being told Sarah was fast developing leukaemia but the doctors informed her that it wasn't safe for either of her children for her baby to be born early. On 17th October 2012, the day Debbie was to be induced, she went into labour and gave birth to a baby boy. Debbie and Andy named their newborn son after Andy's late adoptive father Jack Sugden to the delight of Jack's widow Diane. The day after Jack's birth Debbie ended her relationship with Cameron after she discovered his affair with her aunt Chas Dingle. The doctors were able to harvest the cells from Jack's bone marrow and transplant them to Sarah.
2013-2016: Early life
In early 2013, Andy's new girlfriend Kerry Wyatt began leaving Jack and Sarah alone whilst babysitting. Debbie was furious when Kerry's daughter Amy told her what was going on but Kerry denied the accusations and got Sarah to back up her story. Whilst babysitting, Kerry became drunk and set fire to Andy's house. Sarah managed to get out and raise the alarm and grandfather Cain Dingle ran into the smoke-filled house and rescued Jack. Social services were soon knocking on Debbie's door after Sarah told her tutor about the drama happening at home. Although no action was taken by social services, Andy took Jack and Sarah away from Debbie until she could sort herself out, even threatening to apply for full custody. Debbie tried to run away to Palma with Jack and Sarah, as she was scared she was going to lose her children but Cameron stopped her and she took them home. Cameron and Debbie restarted their relationship soon after
Cameron stops Debbie from running away with Jack and Sarah.
and he moved back in with Debbie, Jack and Sarah at Tug Ghyll. Debbie discovered Cameron had murdered her cousin Gennie Walker, as well as Carl King and Alex Moss. She wore a wire and got Cameron to confess and subsequently Cameron was arrested. Weeks after his arrest, Cameron broke out of a prison van. Jack and Debbie were in The Woolpack when Cameron took the pub hostage armed with a shotgun. Cameron allowed most of the hostages to leave the pub, including Jack, but Debbie and Chas were not allowed to go. Debbie narrowly escaped with her life, and soon she, Jack and Sarah moved into Mulberry Cottage to escape the bad memories of Cameron at Tug Ghyll.
The following year, Debbie began a relationship with farmer Pete Barton, who adored Jack and Sarah. Debbie and Pete married in August 2015 but their marriage was short-lived after Pete confessed to leaving his brother Ross for dead. Following the breakdown of her marriage, Debbie vowed to put her children first and reluctantly allowed Pete to say goodbye to Jack and Sarah. A few months later, Debbie and Ross decided to give their relationship a go but it ended on New Year's Eve when Debbie discovered Ross and Andy's involvement in Robert Sugden's shooting three months previously. Debbie took Sarah and Jack and drove away from the village. Only Cain was aware Debbie had taken Jack and Sarah to live in France. After a few months, Debbie relented and allowed Cain to pass on her contact details to Andy, who took the first flight to France to see his children.
2017-2019: Return and move to Scotland
Jack in 2017
After Sarah was diagnosed with throat cancer, Debbie decided to return to Emmerdale to seek the support of her family. Before she left France, Debbie stole a car and €50,000 from her boss. Two of the bosses henchmen came looking for Debbie at Wishing Well Cottage but Debbie wasn't there so they kidnapped Jack and Sarah. Debbie, Cain, Charity and Ross managed to raise the cash the henchmen wanted and rescued Jack and Sarah. Due to lack of room at Wishing Well Cottage, Debbie, Jack and Sarah moved in with Cain's estranged wife Moira at Butlers Farm. After a falling out between Debbie and Cain, she and the kids moved permanently into Jacobs Fold in January 2019.
In August 2019, after Debbie inherited a garage from Lisa Dingle in Scotland she considers moving there with Jack and Sarah. However, Sarah wanted to stay but encouraged her mother to go anyway to make her happy and thinks it would be really good for Jack. Thus, after a few tearful goodbyes, the pair drove off towards a new life in Scotland.
Background information
- Jack was portrayed by Louis Webster in Emmerdale's fortieth-anniversary live episode in which the character was born. Louis and his twin Max both appeared in one dress rehearsal each, but Louis was chosen to play Jack in the episode as he was the quieter of the babies at the time. Jack has been portrayed by Seth Ball since then.
- Jack departed onscreen on New Years Day 2016 as the character was written out on a temporary basis to cover Charley Webb's (Debbie Dingle) maternity leave. The character returned in January 2017.
- Jack was temporarily written out again in August 2019 when Charley Webb went on maternity leave again.