Emmerdale’s Oliver Farnworth issues ‘wish’ in John Sugden’s deadly exit

The actor departed for the final time in Emmerdale as his character was killed off in Corriedale

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John Sugden made his grand return over the festive season(Image: ITV)

Emmerdale star Oliver Farnworth admits that he wishes John Sugden hadn’t been “killed off” as he addresses soap exit.

The actor made his Emmerdale debut as John Sugden in late 2024. Last year, Nate Robinson’s body was found after the lake was dredged due to the slurry tank incident on Butlers Farm. His loved ones were in shock, thinking that he had moved to Shetland for a fresh start.

As viewers will recall, it was John who accidentally murdered him, and he managed to pin the blame on Owen in a carefully crafted suicide note.

The truth was finally exposed after Mackenzie Boyd learned what had happened, was held hostage by the villain, who then threw himself and husband Aaron Dingle over a cliff edge to avoid taking responsibility and ensuring him and Aaron don’t part.

Once his list of other harrowing crimes was revealed, John fled the country with the help of Caleb Miligan who he blackmailed using the location of where Anthony Fox was buried.

As Aaron Dingle attempted to move on with Robert Sugden, John returned desperate to kill Robert and win Aaron back. Things soon escalated as Aaron held him at gun point while John drove recklessly.

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In ITV’s crossover Corriedale, they ended up in a head-on collision with Corrie’s Becky Swain’s car. Although John fled from the scene once more, he was later found dead in the woods.

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John was killed in Corriedale by Victoria Sugden(Image: ITV)

It was revealed recently that Victoria Sugden had killed him after he attacked her when his attempt to encourage her to runaway with him didn’t work out.

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Speaking to the Mirror, Oliver shared: “To do the story and the character justice, it’s important villains get their comeuppance – that’s what people like to see. For me, personally, I wanted to stay at Emmerdale forever. I loved it there. So selfishly, I would say I wish he hadn’t been killed off.”

Reflecting on his time on the ITV soap, he continued: “I was emotional. I will miss everyone at Emmerdale. They are such a great bunch of people and you work so intensely with them all, form such strong bonds and then suddenly you are off doing something else.

“But you never forget them and you will always keep in touch. Right from the start, Danny Milly (Aaron Dingle) has been a dream. He took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. I have learnt a lot from him, we have had a laugh on set and we have done some intense stunts together. We have become great mates and he is a brilliant actor.”

Touching on his final scene, Oliver admitted: “It’s very hard playing dead! They had a crane shot going over my body, it was a night shoot and I had my eyes open. I was staring at the trees and there were lights replicating the moonlight.

“I was thinking ‘wow this is beautiful’ but also thinking ‘is the shot nearly over?! I need to hold my breath for another ten seconds!’ I am not very good at sitting still, so that was a test for me.”