Jai Sharma is the son of Amit Sharma and Georgia Sharma and the adoptive son of Rishi Sharma as well as the half-brother of Nikhil, Priya, Suni, and Nisha Sharma and the father of Mia Macey, Archie Breckle and Eliza Macey.
Biography[]
1975-2009: Early life[]
Jai was born on 12th September 1975 to Georgia Sharma at District General Hospital in Leeds. Jai's biological father was Amit Sharma although he would be adopted by Amit's older brother Rishi in October 1975 and he was the oldest of the couples three children. In 1991, Jai met Declan Macey who became a dear friend to him but unbeknownst to Declan, Jai had a brief fling with his wife Ella resulting in him fathering her daughter Mia in November 1992. However, neither Declan or Jai knew of Mia's true parentage and she was brought up as Declan's daughter. Jai became a businessman like his father was.
2009-2010: Arrival in Emmerdale[]
Jai moved to the village with his brother Nikhil and sister Priya when they opened sweet factory. Jai was angry when Nikhil kept mentioning how their father would run the business and reminded Nikhil that they run the factory, not their father. Later, Jai befriended Faye Lamb and the pair got talking, Faye let it slip about her past with Mark Wylde and begged him not to tell anybody. Jai soon took a shine to Maisie Wylde, but she turned him down as she had her mind on other people, which knocked Jai down a bit. Jai and his family did not get off to the best start with Reverend Ashley Thomas when Priya was caught drunk dancing on the top of Ashley's car, Jai was annoyed about by Priya's behaviour and told her to stop or move out.
In 2010 Jai and Nikhil got annoyed when Carl King accused them of causing a massive chemical spill. Jai was furious and decided to teach Carl a lesson, but luckily Nikhil stopped things before it got out of hand. Later that, year Jai and Faye grew closer and the pair shared a kiss. Things started to blossom between them but the relationship never took off as they decided to call it a day. Also in 2010, Jai was worried when his brother started getting involved in dodgy deals with Debbie Dingle. Debbie's father Cain Dingle was worried about the trouble Debbie might be getting herself into, so Jai and Cain came up with a plan to steal the satnavs and put Nikhil and Debbie out of business to teach them a lesson, which made either of them happy.
2011-2013: Marriage to Charity Tate and secret son[]
In 2011, Jai gives Charity Tate a job at the factory and made it clear that he fancied her but things turned complicated as she was in a relationship with Cain and this turned Jai down despite having feelings for him. However, this ends when Charity found out that Cain had slept with Faye, and promptly dumped him and decided to go out with Jai. This riled Cain up so much that he started harassing the couple and try to come up with ways of getting Jai and Charity to split up.
In June 2011, Jai's best mate Declan Macey threw his wife Ella out of his house because she cheated on him with their daughter's boyfriend Adam Barton. Therefore, Jai offered Ella a roof over her head and while she stayed there, she got on Charity's nerves and they were always making snide remarks to each other about Jai. In July 2011, Jai ended his relationship with Charity when he found out that she had been trying to undermine Nikhil at the factory. However, Charity did everything she could to get Jai to change his mind, but he refused, so Charity went back to live with Debbie. Later on, Jai threw Ella out as well as she tried to relight the relationship they used to have, but Jai didn't take any of it and told her to leave. Jai was then persuaded by Charity to rekindle their relationship and all of her hard work is paid off when Jai gave Charity another chance as she admitted she loved him and proposed to him. At the engagement party, Jai was attacked by Declan after Declan found out about his and Ella's affair back in the day and also that Jai was, in fact, his "daughter" Mia's father. This annoyed him and he punched him. Declan was pulled away from Jai and left with Katie Sugden.
In November 2011, Jai's parents Rishi and Georgia Sharma arrived in the village to meet Jai's fancée. Rishi was impressed but Georgia not so much as her husband and made it quite clear. In November, Jai was arrested for assaulting Priya to the ground, Priya wasn't initially going to report Jai, but when Cain convinced her to report him, but he was later let off with a caution. Jai had no choice but to call the wedding off regarding when the threats made by Cain towards his family get too severe, and Charity was the pushed to the limit and hit Cain for everything he has done.
In December 2011, Jai was one of six suspects including Moira and John Barton, Zak Dingle, Amy Wyatt and Charity for supposedly hitting Cain over the head and leaving him for dead. While Cameron Murray was driving along the Hotten Road, he found Cain's body lying in the road next to Jai, when Cameron questioned Jai, he said that he found him lying by the side of the road and was going to get help. In a panic, Jai ran off and left Cain's lifeless body with Cameron. The following week, Jai was arrested for attempted murder on Cain but was later let go after questioning because there was no evidence that showed Jai did it. Later on, Cain woke up in hospital and told the police it was Jai who attacked him, causing him to be arrested and questioned before the police keep him in overnight. Jai's family and Charity tried their best to get him out of the station. Charity visited Cain who was discharged from hospital and tried to get him to drop the charges against Jai, but it didn't work. The following day, Jai was released on bail and shouted at Nikhil who was trying to persuade him that Charity tried to kill Cain, but Jai tolf him she had made her family turn against her to try and save him and he was extremely grateful.
In January 2012, Jai was furious to find out that Nikhil has called the police on Charity because he didn't want to see Jai go to prison. Jai then told Nikhil that he was no longer part of his family and that if he did go to prison, he wouldn't be signing the factory over to him but to Charity because he could trust her and he had lost all of his trust in Nikhil which left him upset. However, Jai's name was soon cleared as Cain's father Zak admitted to him that he was the one who attacked him to treat him a lesson, partly because of his treatment of Jai and Charity, and demanded he dropped his accusation against Jai and stopped harassing him and Charity. Not long after, Jai and Charity finally married.
In May 2012, the newlywed couple started having issues as Jai wanted children whilst Charity did not want any more children, due to two difficult pregnancies. When Jai discussed the subject with Charity, she told him that did not want any more children but agreed to think about it after Jai mentioned the possibility of adopting Noah Tate. Charity still felt that she did not want any more children but agreed to Noah changing his surname to Sharma. However, on learning that Nikhil and his girlfriend Gennie were expecting a baby, Jai had another row with Charity and went to the factory with a bottle of whisky. While there, the cleaner Rachel Breckle arrived to clean the place and was persuaded to have a drink with Jai. Before long, both were drunk and the next morning, they woke up together at the factory and a couple of weeks later, she told him that she is pregnant but planned to have a termination but just as she was about to leave for the clinic, Jai stopped her and asked her not to go. She agreed but insists that Jai tell Charity about their baby, insisting she won't be his dirty little secret.
2014-2018: Relationship with Megan Macey and birth of Eliza[]
In March 2018, Jai found bruises on Eliza's legs following her 2nd birthday party. When Priya confessed to having an outburst towards his daughter earlier, Jai and Megan suspected her of child abuse, a belief that was strengthened when the bruises disappeared after Megan took full custody of her. Ultimately, however, Priya's innocence was proved when Eliza's bruises returned and were determined to be the result of her medication for epilepsy.
2019 to present: Relationship with Laurel Thomas and Archie's return[]
In mid-2019, Jai started dating Sharma & Sharma employee Laurel Thomas. They grew closer and Jai bonded with Laurel's son Arthur.
In August 2019, Jai and his family were in financial difficulty after the factory caught fire and struggled to pay the wages for the workers. Thus they decided to sell a 49.5% share to Kim Tate, with Jai owning an equal share and the remaining 1% belonging to Nicola King. However, Jai's world was turned when Kim convinced Nicola to sell her share to Kim's business partner Al Chapman. Together they had the majority share and could overvote Jai on any issue. Jai stood hopeless when they decided they would shut down the factory and instead open an outdoor pursuits centre on the grounds.
In September 2019, Jai was reunited with his son Archie after Rachel died from a heart attack. Initially, Jai struggled to connect with his grieving son but they eventually bonded. What he didn't know was that as he and Laurel bonded more with Archie, Arthur started feeling neglected and took out those aggressions on Archie, starting to bully him and hurt him physically. When Jai found a bruise on Archie, Arthur told them Jimmy King was responsible and making Archie back his story. Jai was furious but Jimmy denied the allegation, causing a rift between the former friends.
In January 2020, Jai started getting more and more stressed out trying to finish the work on the outdoor centre especially since Al put a lot of pressure on him. He fell back into old habits and finally gave in and called his dealer, buying coke to help him work and get the job done on time. However, on the day of its opening things started going downhill. After Jai crashed into Graham Foster's car whilst driving high, Graham revealed his drug relapse to Laurel who broke up with him after he refuses to admit it, causing Jai to take more drugs and attack Rishi before stumbling out in the night, cursing Graham for ruining his relationship. Jai woke up the following day with no recollection of the night before and after hearing Graham had been found dead, he feared he was responsible. However, he soon discovered that he attacked Jimmy that night, throwing his fists at the car doors. He realised he had to get himself together and thus went to rehab.
When Jai returned the following month, he and Laurel decided to give their relationship another go. In March 2020, Jai asks Laurel to move in together and was thrown when she declined. However, she soon revealed the reason was that she had found out her son Arthur had been bullying Archie for months and was the one responsible for the bruises.
In March 2022, Jai and Laurel got back together after their breakup over Jai taking a loan in Laurel's name. He had needed money to pay off his fines.
On 26th June 2023, Jai discovered that Rishi was his adoptive father. Also on that same day, Jai's girlfriend Laurel Thomas proposed to him.
On his and Laurel Thomas wedding day, Jai found out the identity of his real father was Rishi Sharma's brother Amit Sharma.
Other information[]
Trivia[]
- Jai is allergic to dogs.[1] Despite this, he would later adopt the dog Tip from Frank Clayton as Megan Macey was allergic to her.
Quotes[]
"Run for your lives kids." - First line.