Ross Barton is the son of James and Emma Barton, brother of Pete and Finn and half-brother of Adam and Lewis Barton, as well as the father of Moses Dingle.
Biography[]
1990-2013: Life before Emmerdale[]
Born on the 13th June 1990, Ross was the middle brother of the Barton family. When he was a year or so old, Emma, struggling with post-partum depression, attempted to smother him with a pillow. Pete saw her and told James, leading James to banish her from their lives. Ross grew up feeling his father preferred Pete to him, and in his teen years, left home. He then turned to a life of crime.
2013-2014: Attack on Laurel Thomas and family reunion[]
Waiting at the side of the road for Rhona to return from a chemist in July 2013, Laurel was attacked by Ross whilst tending to a crying Leo. Dressed in a black hoodie, he demanded Laurel to drive and when she wouldn't, he put his hand over her face and struggled with her. Laurel fought him off and managed to force herself and Leo out of the car and away from him. Ross drove off with Laurel's car leaving them at the side of the road.
Shortly afterwards in August, Laurel tracked down Ross to his flat in Maple Grove and brandished a pair of scissors at him, telling him she wanted him to feel as scared as she did when he attacked her. Ross realised, however, that Laurel wasn't going to physically harm him and called her bluff, knocking her to the ground. Realising Laurel had gone after her attacker and knowing Cain had dealings with Ross in the past, Marlon Dingle got Cain to help to track them both down. They arrived in time to witness Ross about to attack Laurel for a second time. Cain defused the situation while Marlon took Laurel home.
In October, Cain abandoned an attack on a gang of drug dealers he was supposed to be assisting in and recruited Ross as his replacement. When the job went wrong, Ross burst into Butler's Farm with a gunshot wound to the neck. Covered with blood after being shot, he blackmailed Cain into helping him by threatening to tell Moira about the job whilst she was out of the room. Moira wanted to call an ambulance but Cain and Ross insisted that she couldn't otherwise they would both be arrested. Instead, they had Vanessa Woodfield assist to the wound. Cain tried to force Ross to leave at the earliest opportunity but Moira soon realised that Ross was James's boy, and therefore her nephew, whom she had not seen for around twenty years after James and her late husband John fell out. Moira allowed Ross to stay at Butler's Farm until he recovered, leaving Cain feeling uneasy.
Also discovering that Ross had fallen out with his father, Moira chose to contact James for the first time in years in an attempt to patch things up between the pair. When James arrived at Butler's Farm however, an argument ensued and it became clear that a reunion wasn't on the cards as Ross insisted he wanted nothing to do with his father. Cain tried to convince Moira to get Ross to leave, but feeling sorry for Ross she wanted him to stay for a couple more days. Cain then informed Moira that Ross was Laurel's carjacker, leading to Moira to also want to get rid of him, but she was forced to reconsider when Vanessa insisted he need a few more days of rest.
After visiting her ex-husband Ashley at the farm to discuss his daughter, Gabby's behaviour, Laurel spotted Ross on Adam's quad bike and shouted for help when she thought he was stealing it. When the police became involved, Laurel let slip that she had once turned up at Ross’s flat and brandished scissors at him. This led to Laurel being arrested and Ross was told she would face a trial by jury. Before disappearing from the village, Ross helped Cain out by stealing Declan Macey’s car and selling it, allowing Moira to keep the farm as they now had the money to pay Declan who was their landlord.
The next time Ross was seen in the village was following Laurel's trial, where she had been found guilty and fined. Ross arrived at Tall Trees Cottage threatening Laurel for his money, stating he wanted it now. Laurel realised she wasn't scared of him anymore and that he would have to wait for his money to be paid back in the way that the courts had agreed. Having nowhere to stay, Moira once again put Ross up, not knowing that Ross was still being harassed by one of the drug dealers from the previous month. The drug dealers eventually caught up with Ross and got their revenge by terrifying Moira and beating up his cousin Adam before wrecking Butlers Farm. Despite all of this Moira allowed him to stay at Butler's Farm. Ross began to be accepted by the village when he saved Gabby from being hit by a car when she ran into the road. Gabby’s mother Bernice couldn't think of enough ways to thank Ross and even Laurel had to swallow her pride to at least thank Ross for saving Gabby's life.
In December 2013, Ross was unhappy to see his father, James on the farm again and made it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with James. Ross was further annoyed when Moira allowed him to stay on the farm along with Ross’s brothers Pete and Finn.
2014: Relationship with Donna Windsor & Donna's death[]
In January 2014, Ross became infatuated with his co-worker, Debbie Dingle, but was shocked when she attacked him after he made a move on her. She later explained it was because of what her ex did to her, which Ross understood and his crush continued. However, Ross was bitterly disappointed when he found out Debbie had began a relationship with his brother Pete and damaged a car at the garage in his rage, which Debbie ordered him to pay for. In March 2014, Ross was seen on occasions with a woman called Laura Atkinson but their relationship was as short-lived as she soon disappeared, despite being friendly with Debbie’s daughter, Sarah.
In May 2014, Ross became close to Donna Windsor after dancing with her at Moira and Cain’s wedding. He enjoyed flirting with and teasing Donna over the next few weeks, realising that she was a dodgy police officer. He agreed to help her burgle the house of Gary North, a prolific local criminal. However, Pete overheard Donna saying that she was only luring him into this position so she can arrest him, as she was fully aware of his previous crimes so Ross confronted her. Donna convinced him that she was only saying it to keep things under wraps and they go ahead with the burglary. After this, Ross and Donna became lovers, but Donna neglected to tell him she was dying, instead working with him on a heist to help pay for her daughter April's future.
In June 2014, Ross attends his younger brother, Finn’s birthday party in the Woolpack. However, he and the rest of the guests are shocked to see an old home video that reveals James had slept with Moira years earlier. Then Ross and his brothers then learn that this led to their cousin Adam being born and he is in fact their brother. Ross was furious with James as he and Finn believed that this was the reason their mother left the family. Soon, Ross accepted Adam as his brother and they became close, with Ross pulling Adam into his dodgy dealings to annoy James.
Then in July, Gary North hired someone to attack Finn, knowing that Ross was the closest to Finn of anyone, and nearly killed him in order to send Ross a message. To keep his family safe, Ross agreed to do a dodgy job for Gary, but he and Donna planned to use this as an opportunity to steal from Gary and get evidence that would send him to prison. Ross also asked Adam to act as a lookout, knowing that he was desperate for money. Everything went terribly wrong on the day and the outcome of the job led Donna to throw herself off a building while handcuffed to Gary after she professed her love for Ross. This left Ross devastated as she was the first person he had ever truly loved. He told Adam that Donna’s death was his fault because he messed up and also snapped at Donna’s daughter April when she asked where her mother was.
In November 2014, Ross was employed by Charity Macey to work at a chop shop she was running at Butlers. During this time he and Charity had sex but agreed it was only a one night stand. After stealing Robert Sugden’s car with Aaron Dingle, Ross was blackmailed by Robert into staging a robbery at Home Farm that would make him look like a hero. Ross and Aaron went through with the job, though Ross held this over Robert for months after.
2015: Reconciliation with Emma, affair with Debbie and birth of Moses[]
In January 2015, Ross and Finn met their long lost mother, Emma Barton, after Finn tracked her down. Ross soon got over his shock at seeing Emma again and wanted her to stay, but was annoyed as Pete and James tried to force her out. To stop her from leaving, Ross burgled her house and later talked her into staying. However, he was distraught when James told him the reason Emma left was because she tried to kill him as a baby. Ross was initially furious with Emma, but after she explained that she was suffering from depression he forgave her.
In March 2015, Ross began dating Carly Hope following her failed wedding to a man named Sunil, and Ross defended her when her ex-fiancé came to the village. Ross became uncomfortable when he found out that Carly was Donna’s step-sister, though he eventually got past this. However, Ross soon began having stronger feelings for Pete’s fiancée, Debbie. In June 2015, Ross unknowingly became a father when his ex-fling, Charity gave birth to his son while in prison. Later that month, he and Debbie began an affair behind Pete’s back which Ross was thrilled about. Soon after, Ross was called by Charity and told to come to the hospital, where she told him that he was her baby’s father. He was shocked by this news and told Charity he wanted nothing to do with baby Moses and made her promise to keep quiet about the paternity as he didn’t want Debbie, who was Charity’s daughter, to know. She agreed on the condition that he end Cain and Moira’s marriage. Ross tried but Cain found out about his attempt to break them up and he was forced to give in.
Ross continued his affair with Debbie and his relationship with Carly suffered as he neglected her. He broke up with Carly in July as he planned to run away with Debbie before the wedding, but the plan was stopped when her father, Cain, found out and told her that Ross was Moses’s father. Debbie broke up with Ross after Cain added that Ross made a deal with Charity to keep the paternity of Moses quiet if he broke up Cain’s marriage. Later, Ross told Finn everything and he managed to get the letter Debbie had addressed to Pete, in which she confessed to the affair and planned to run away with Ross before Pete could read it.
At Pete's stag do in August 2015, a bitter Ross revealed in front of the whole pub that he was Moses' father to ruin Pete’s night. James and Emma were furious at Ross for keeping the fact that they were grandparents from them and Pete banned him from the wedding because of how angry everyone was. At first, Ross wanted nothing to do with his son, but eventually, he warmed up to him and Emma managed to persuade Charity to put Ross' name on the birth certificate so he wouldn't lose any rights to his son when Charity was released from prison.
2015-2016: Presumed death, feud with Pete and James' death[]
On the wedding day, Ross planned to tell all at the ceremony by playing a recording of Debbie talking about the affair. To stop this, Cain tied Ross up and put him into the back of a van, which he parked at the edge of a cliff. A desperate Ross escaped by jumping into the water below but was knocked unconscious for a while. When he woke up, he walked back to the village only to witness Cain and Pete putting a lifeless Debbie into the car as a result of a helicopter crash. He went to the hospital and asked Pete whether Debbie was alive or not, but Pete does not respond, worrying Ross. Ross went back upstairs to see Debbie, but Pete saw him again and attacked him. Security guards threw them out of the hospital, but they continued to fight outside. After Ross punches Pete to the ground, Pete charged at Ross, causing him to hit his head on a stone wall. Pete kept hitting him and stopped when he thought that he had killed him. Instead of finding help for his dying brother in the hospital they are right outside of, Pete placed Ross into the boot of his car and drove to the woods, where he hid him a ditch and covers his body with leaves.
Three weeks later, Pete and James went to the woods to find Ross’s body, but it was nowhere to be seen. Unbeknownst to anybody, Ross was lying in a hospital bed but in a coma. The next day, Ross woke up from the coma, though hospital thought that he was named Stephen having found a passport given to him by Cain. Ross tried to get out of talking to the police and left the hospital, returning home. He found Pete and they argued about the events as Ross was angry that Pete had told everyone what he had done and not been reported to the police. He collapsed when he tried to punch Pete, and returned to the hospital where his parents and Finn were reunited with him.
Ross shocked everyone when he forgave Pete for his actions, however, this was just an act. Ross tried several times to get revenge on Pete afterwards but failed in his attempts. Then on September 25th 2015, Ross made a deal with Andy Sugden, Andy would kill Pete and Ross would kill Andy's brother Robert. Later that night, Ross shot Robert and left the village. Ross, upon his return in October, was shocked to find that Robert and Pete were both still alive. He confronted Andy about this but the deal was dropped as both of them realised they could not live with the guilt of killing someone.
Following his return, Ross made up with Debbie and they started seeing each other again, though she didn't know what Ross had been up to. Ross was pleased when Debbie asked him to move in with her and he agreed so they went to tell Pete together. Ross also struggled to get the approval of Debbie’s family, especially Cain and her daughter, Sarah, who missed Pete. On New Year’s Eve 2015, Ross planned to propose to Debbie at the garage with help from Finn, but had to go back to the house to get the ring. However, a furious Robert then got into Mulberry Cottage and pointed a gun at Ross to get revenge for being shot. Ross confessed and tried to talk Robert out of killing him as Debbie arrived. Robert forced Ross to tell her about the shooting as he begged for his life and he then left, saying he was satisfied with ruining Ross’s life. After this Debbie threw Ross out for the safety of her and her children. She then left the village and Ross rapidly ran after the car but he was too late. The next day, Ross took Moses from Moira, who Debbie had entrusted him to as he decided to be a good father.
In January 2016, Ross was attacked by an unstable Pete, who was later arrested for the crime. Pete said he deserved to go to prison for all the things he had done, so Ross let him. When Pete was released from prison in May 2016, he and Ross finally put their differences aside. and set up a taxi firm with Finn in June.
In September 2016, Ross was left fuming when he found out James told Moira he loved her and that he'd nearly had sex with her in the back of their cab. A few weeks later, Ross was upset when he learnt his cousin Holly died of a heroin overdose. While helping James and Emma move into Wylies Farm, he berated James for messing with Emma's feelings and accidentally pushed him down the stairs, breaking his leg as a result. While in hospital, Emma overheard Ross and James arguing about James' feelings for Moira and overcome with jealousy, she kept James hostage in their own home and James was killed in the Hotten Bypass Crash in October 2016. The next morning, Ross arrived home after spending the night with a girl and was distraught when told of James' death. He lashed out at everyone, namely Cain and Moira, desperate to put the blame on someone. On the day of James' funeral in November, Ross broke down in Emma's arms, devastated that he never made up with his dad before he died. He resented Adam's role at the funeral, and then made a pass at Adam's wife, Victoria, leading her to slap him. Ross left town for a while to clear his head.
2016-2017: Relationships with Kerry, Debbie and Rebecca[]
Pete and Ross had a bet over who could bed a woman first. Ross won the bet after he found Kerry Wyatt, the girlfriend of Ross' garage co-worker Dan, at the side of the road and she was upset over his kissing another woman, so she slept with Ross. Kerry got pregnant and had a termination and Dan was furious when the truth came out. Ross warned him off, finally knocking Dan out with one punch when he tried to start a fight.
In January 2017, Ross was shocked when Debbie returned to the village. He helped her get the money to pay off some French thugs and thought this might endear him to her. He was saddened to learn her daughter Sarah's cancer had returned, and asked Debbie to give their relationship another go but Debbie gently declined, telling Ross her daughter comes first. With Moira's help, Ross set up a chop shop at Butlers in order to raise money for Sarah's cancer fund. Some months later, Debbie and Ross had sex, and planned to announce their reconciliation, but changed their minds due to Sarah's continuing problems.
Then Ross began sleeping with Rebecca White, unaware of her feelings for Robert. When she revealed she was pregnant, he ruled himself out as the father due to using protection and she revealed her one night stand with Robert. He agreed not to tell anyone as Robert was in a relationship with Aaron Dingle and tried to be there for her.
The taxi service also began to struggle and this was worsened when one of the firms cabs was burnt, in what Ross and his brothers assumed was something to do with Finn’s obsession with his ex, Kasim. After this, Finn went away on holiday to Australia not revealing huge debts to Pete and Ross until some time later. Later, Ross and Finn found marijuana plants at Wylies Farm whilst going there to collect Emma's belongings from her brief stay with James, and they decided to start selling the product. However, a feud with Robert and Aaron led to the destruction of the plants as well as their other taxi, so the taxi firm was shut down.
2017-2018: Deaths of Finn and Emma, acid attack, relationship with Rebecca and departure[]
As Finn slowly learned of Emma's role in James' death, Pete and Ross were left in the dark. When they were told of Emma confronting Moira at the farm and Moira being rushed to hospital, they went to see her for answers, only to see Finn, suffering from a gunshot wound, wheeled in. Ross was devastated as he watched Finn die from a cardiac arrest on the operating table. When Ross learned it was Emma who had accidentally shot Finn, he went searching for her, and found her in her car. He bundled her into his car and took her to the viaduct. He berated her, yelling at her to go ahead and kill herself. He left and then returned, only to find her dead. He blamed himself but kept quiet about his involvement. Soon, he and Pete began to believe Adam might have pushed her after he was arrested, and they worked to have him sent down. After Adam went on the run, Moira confessed to them that she was responsible. Ross pushed her against a wall, but the next day, told her he forgave her and wanted to move on.
Ross is pelted with acid by Simon McManus
When Debbie's new boyfriend Joe Tate left her jobless and homeless as part of a revenge scheme against her family, Ross agreed to act as a double agent for her, getting a job as Joe's driver. Debbie was unappreciative of his help, and he began to enjoy the lifestyle of expensive cars and beautiful women at his disposal. He decided to genuinely work for Joe, but Joe had already discovered his duplicity and fired him. Ross stole one of Joe's cars and drove back home, unaware that Debbie had asked drug dealer Simon to "mess" Joe up. Simon, unable to see clearly at night, doused Ross with acid. Joe and his associate Graham stumbled upon him screaming in pain while they were tracking the car down, doused him in water, and got him to hospital.
When he awoke, a horrified Ross learned he had facial scars which might never heal. Charity then brings Moses to visit Ross in hospital and Ross is overjoyed to see his son but his joy soon turns to devastation when Ross realises Moses is scared of the way he looks. He orders someone to get Moses out of the room then orders everyone else out too. Later, Pete visits him and shows him a picture of Moses and he cries after Pete leaves. A few days later Ross goes to see Moses at the playground but when Moses spots Ross, he gets scared and Ross retreats into the church. Cain follows and Ross states he sees his injuries - he doesn't recognise himself anymore and Cain questions how Moses is meant to recognise him then. Later, Debbie and Cain play with Moses in the playground when Ross approaches. Ross takes over pushing Moses on the swing, and in terms, the youngster will understand, he explains to Moses that he's still his daddy despite his different appearance.
The scarring left Ross feeling very self-conscious and after being discharged from hospital, he spent all of his time in Dale View, refusing to leave. Pete tried to convince him to go out on multiple occasions, but Ross refused, not wanting people to gawp at him. However, after Pete snaps and tells him that James and Finn can't go to a cafe now, Ross reluctantly agrees to go to the cafe with Pete. As he got to the cafe, everyone tried to act normal around him, but Ross ends up snapping at Brenda when she tells him his food is on the house. He yells at everyone, calling Rhona Goskirk “Pete's tart” before storming out. After Simon is arrested for the attack, Ross becomes obsessed with tracking him down, and in his search meets prostitute, Dawn Taylor. In April 2018 he robs the vets for more drugs but is caught by Rhona. Pete convinces her not to report Ross and orders him to get help. Ross then gives the drugs to Dawn as he sympathises with her problems. He then begins taking drugs from Simon, as retribution for the attack but becomes addicted.
He later pursues a relationship with Rebecca White again, bonding over both their traumatic experiences as she's suffered a severe head trauma after a car accident. He helps her remember things and getting her head sorted after her brain damage while she helps him with his views on his appearance. However, she ends things as she discovers she has executive dysfunction and Ross is saddened by this. Ross meets Dawn again and they become friends as he begins taking drugs with her. Soon their bond becomes deeper and they have sex, but Ross jokes about paying her, causing Dawn to storm out. Ross later makes up with her and realises his new friend Ryan Stocks likes her so he sets them up. Ross continues to take cocaine and Ryan finds him passed out while in charge of Moses. Ross promises to stop taking drugs if Ryan doesn’t tell Charity.
In October 2018, Ross is distraught when he learns that Debbie ordered the acid attack and insists she turns herself in. Ross then goes after Simon and they fight, but has to be saved by Moira when Simon hits him with a rock. Debbie is later charged with GBH for ordering the attack and Ross believes this is justice.
After Rebecca’s ordeal with her nephew, Lachlan, Ross is there for her again and they get back together. The pair decided to leave Emmerdale for a fresh start after Ross was offered a job in Liverpool. Ross originally planned to bring Moses with him, but Charity stopped him from doing so after Ryan told her about Ross collapsing in front of Moses and leaving his son to wander off alone. Ross begged Charity not to cut him out of his son's life and Charity took pity on him, agreeing to let him have contact with Moses whenever he pleased as long as he dropped the custody battle idea and sorted his life out. Ross agreed to leave Moses in Emmerdale on the basis that he would still get regular access. On 2nd November 2018, Ross Barton left the village with Rebecca White and her son Sebastian White to move to Liverpool.
2024-2025: Return and Illegal Boxing[]
In late October 2024, Ross was revealed to be Billy Fletcher's opponent in an illegal boxing match organised by promotor, Jade Garrick. Mackenzie Boyd, who had accompanied Billy to the fight recognised Ross, as he is married to Ross' ex-fling, Charity Dingle and step-father to his son, Moses Dingle. Ross and Billy begin to fight with Ross getting the upper-hand initially, but when he sees Mackenzie taking Moses from the crowd he gets distracted. This allows Billy to get in a sucker punch and knock Ross down, meaning Billy wins the fight. Ross then followed Mackenzie back to the village and went to Jacob's Fold to find Moses. Mackenzie tells Charity about Ross taking their son to an illegal fight and she is furious but Ross still demands him back. Charity refuses and Ross leaves in a huff, after punching Mackenzie in the stomach. Later, Ross pays Billy a visit and warns him that the people betting on their fight won’t have been happy with the result.
The next day, Ross goes back to Jacob's Fold and talks with Charity, explaining that his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca White died a few months before and that her son Seb was taken away to live with an aunt in Bristol. Charity asks Cain Dingle to let him stay at Butlers and give him a job on the farm and Ross promises that he is going to be better from now on. During a conversation in the Woolpack's back room Ross tries to kiss Charity but she rejects him as she is married. A few days later, Ross causes more trouble when he takes a shotgun into a barn where he thinks some thieves have been, only to point the gun at Mackenzie and Moses, making Mack more angry with him.
Soon after, Jade returns and tells Ross that he and Billy have to fight again, this time with Ross winning so she can get the money back from lost bets. Ross initially refuses as he told Charity who would stay out of trouble, but is forced to agree to the fight when Jade’s thugs hold him over a bridge and threaten Moses. Ross, along with Billy, Mackenzie and Aaron Dingle arrange the fight in a barn at Butlers. When the match starts but it is clear neither Billy nor Ross wants to be there. However, they are interrupted by John Sugden warning them that the police are coming. A few hours later, Ross is caught by police on a road nearby and taken in for questioning but they don’t have any evidence he was involved in the fight. When Ross returns to the farm the next day, Cain tells him to pack his stuff and get out as he doesn’t need Ross bringing trouble as Moira is ill but Moira lets Ross stay in the farmhouse at least.
A couple of days later, Ross meets Steph Miligan in the HIDE and spends the night with her in the Grange B&B. The next day he goes to the depot to look for a job but is shocked to find out that Caleb Miligan who owns the depot is Steph’s father. Caleb is unimpressed to find out Ross didn’t even know his daughter’s name despite them sleeping together and refuses to hire him. The next day, Ross steals a van from Caleb’s depot and is confronted by Steph. He is wary that she might tell Caleb or the police about the theft but instead she kisses him and they have sex in the van.
In early December, Jade returns to demand the money from Ross, having determined that he is the only one who could have taken it but he is unable to get it and Jade tells him that was a mistake. On 5th of December, Jade kidnapped April Windsor, Donna’s daughter, who Ross was close to and took April to the car park in Hotten where Donna died. Ross went to get April back, but was surprised when Aaron and Mack arrived and repaid his debt, using the money which Mack had split between the two. Jade let April go free and Ross took her back to Butlers and tried to comfort her, but ended up revealing that her mother had committed suicide by jumping. Later that day, Ross attacked Mackenzie as he blamed him for what happened to April. When Charity tried to stop Ross as he beat her husband, he threw her to the ground and was about stamp on Mackenzie’s head until Moses called out for him to stop. Ross was horrified as he saw his son run away and Charity told him he’d never see him again after this.
Ross is officially kicked out of Butlers by Cain after Charity tells him what happened. He tries to talk to Moses but it is clear that his son is terrified of him after what he did. A few days later, Ross foiled Caleb, Charity and Marlon’s plan to frame him for theft and he also tells April what her father tried to do, further driving a wedge between her and Marlon as she thinks Ross is the only one she can trust. A few days later Ross finds April drinking at Donna’s grave. He takes the bottle from her and makes a deal with her that if she makes up with her father then Ross will make up with Moses. Ross says he will try, but when he sees how happy Moses is with Mackenzie, he walks away. A couple of days later, April gives him the keys to Tall Trees Cottage which Marlon owns, but on 23rd December 2024, Marlon finds out that Ross has been squatting in his house and confronts him, telling him if he really cares for April he will stay away from her from now on. Ross takes this advice and shouts at April the next time he sees her, telling her he doesn’t care about her, upsetting her even more.
On 26th December, after finding out that April had gone missing, Ross told the police about the boxing, April's kidnap and how Jade had been repaid. Afterwards, the police determined Jade wasn't responsible, leading Marlon to demand Ross to take him to her. Ross warned him against it, but later took him to prove she was not responsible. After meeting with Jade, Ross and Marlon returned to the village where Marlon told Ross it was all his fault and that if anything happened to April it was on him.
In January 2025, Moira allowed Ross to move back in to Butlers Farm and let him have his job on the farm as she needed the help following her brain surgery. Later in the month, Charity asked Ross to intimidate Joe Tate into leaving her son, Noah alone and Ross agreed on the condition that she would help him get Moses to like him. Ross then broke into Home Farm and threatened Joe, saying he still owed him for the acid attack.
A few days later, Ross found Marlon wandering the streets of Leeds alone and helped him. After this, Marlon let Ross in on the main search and Ross watched out for Marlon as he became dangerously obsessed with finding April. Fortunately April was found alive in February, and Ross was hugely relieved. Mary Goskirk, April’s step-grandmother, assures Ross that he will be one of the first to see April when she’s ready and hugs him. On 9th February, Ross sees April and she reveals that she was pregnant and that her daughter was still born, which shocks Ross. He comforts her and then takes her home to Marlon, who is unhappy that April is once again confiding in Ross and not him. When April’s friend Dylan arrives, Ross is suspicious of him as he is an addict and advises Marlon to get rid of him. In March 2025, Ross was dumped by Steph and was left confused by her sudden rejection.
After being accused of stealing from local farms by Mackenzie, Ross suspected newcomer, Kammy, was behind it but Charity’s granddaughter, Sarah said he was innocent and Ross initially believed her. However, he soon realised Kammy was the culprit and tried to set him up but Kammy framed Ross for taking one of Kim Tate’s horses instead. She caught him returning it, but Ross convinced Kim to give him a job as head of security for Home Farm. Ross then had to leave after Pete was beaten up but returned a couple of days later when Pete was discharged from hospital.
2025: Relationship with Steph and meeting Lewis[]
Then in April 2025, Steph confided in Ross that her mother was sexually abused by her grandfather and that Caleb wasn’t her biological father. Ross supported Steph and told her about his issues with Emma and what happened to Finn and James. He tried to kiss her but she pulled away, saying that she couldn’t handle being intimate and Ross understood. The next day, he went to the hospital with her to visit Caleb after he was stabbed as moral support. Soon, Ross rekindled things with Steph but agreed to take it slow as she was still fragile. However, a couple of weeks later, Ross became disturbed by Steph’s erratic behaviour and was shocked when Caleb and Ruby told him she had tried to get plastic surgery. He tried to comfort Steph but she had a break down and attacked him, calling him a freak to get him to hurt her. After she started going to therapy, Ross promised Steph he would support her and told her he loved her but was hurt when she ended things with him, saying she couldn’t be in a relationship at the moment. Ross was upset about this and ended up sleeping with Manpreet Sharma, though he tried to hide the fling from Caleb which angered Manpreet.
In May 2025, Ross was stunned when Moira showed him a letter addressed 'to the family of Emma Barton' and it revealed he had another brother who Emma had given up for adoption. Ross initially panicked about this, but then resolved to meet his new brother and texted him. He met up with Lewis, but Ross was offish with his brother and he ended up snapping and storming off as Lewis asked about what happened to Finn and Emma.
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Residence[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Butlers Farm | 24th October 2013 to 31st October 2013 |
| Barn at Butlers Farm | 2nd December 2013 to 3rd December 2013 |
| Butlers Farm | 3rd December 2013 to 30th January 2014 |
| Dale View | 30th January 2014 to 29th October 2015 |
| Mulberry Cottage | 29th October 2015 to 13th January 2016 |
| Dale View | 13th January 2016 to 2nd November 2018 |
| Liverpool | 2nd November 2018 to 31st October 2024 |
| Butlers Farm | 31st October 2024 to 6th December 2024 |
| Apartment One, Mill Cottage (temporarily) | 6th December 2024 to 9th December 2024 |
| Car (temporarily) | 9th December 2024 to 12th December 2024 |
| Tall Trees Cottage | 12th December 2024 to 23rd December 2024 |
Additional information[]
- A young Ross was portrayed by Monty Poole in home videos broadcast in Episode 6898 (26th June 2014).
Quotes[]
"Shut it. Drive, now!" (First line, to Laurel Thomas)
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"You and me are for keeps, aren't we?" (to Donna Windsor)
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"Is that it? Is that all you've got?" (To Pete Barton before Pete beats him unconscious, although Pete thought he'd beaten Ross to death)
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"Bit late for the Ice Bucket Challenge, isn't it?" (to Pete Barton)
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"Listen, I am flattered, mate, but I am as straight as a ruler." (To Robert Sugden who had him pinned against the bar)
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"Right, now drive." (final line in 2018 to Rebecca White)
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"Where’s my son?" (To Charity Dingle upon his return in 2024)
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"You can learn a lot from an old book." (About Mary Goskirk’s age-gap relationship with Suzy Merton.