Robert Sugden's comeback after six years away from the soap was set to give the serial drama a ratings boost for the channel. However, actor Ryan Hawley's return on May 28 didn't pan out as planned, as his homecoming episode actually saw fans switch off.

During the instalment, , Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) and half-brother, (Oliver Farnworth), years following his imprisonment for Lee Posner's (Kristopher Ian Mochrie) murder.

According to the latest figures, just over 3 million people tuned in to watch Robert's return to the Yorkshire Dales. However, 3.1 million viewers watched the previous day's episode, meaning Robert's resurgence didn't pull in as many fans.

In another blow for the soap, the second episode of which Robert was part saw a further 600,000 viewers switch off.

A source told : "It's not ideal for such a big moment to not pull in the numbers. Bosses expected a great deal of excitement from fans about Robert's return, but it doesn't seem to have transferred into actual ratings."

They added: "With all the cuts ITV is having to make, people will be wondering if his return is worth it."

Ryan, who left Emmerdale in 2019, recently admitted he had been finding it difficult to land work during his absence from the programme.

He and his family even moved to Brazil to start a life away from the spotlight last year. Ryan recently told : "I wasn't as busy as I would have liked, but that meant I got to be around my kids a lot, so I was very lucky."

However, he confirmed on an episode of on ITV that his character Robert is back on the soap "for good".

Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.