Soap guru Sharon Marshall has fuelled the theory John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) is going to feature in the upcoming Emmerdale and Coronation Street crossover.

John disappeared in September after Caleb Miligan (William Ash) helped him go on the run. In the month prior, John and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) were rushed into hospital after John threw them both off a cliff.

John’s injuries weren’t as severe as Aaron’s, which meant he could manipulate those around him into thinking Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) was responsible for pushing them, all while his partner remained unconscious.

As soon as Aaron woke up from his coma, he confirmed the truth. He revealed to his loved ones that John was holding Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) hostage, had killed Nate, and was also responsible for a number of deadly events that had taken place in the village over the past year.

Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) was the person at the front of the queue when it came to those searching for revenge on John. He managed to convince Caleb to help him with his plan, which involved taking John to the woods and threatening him with a gun.

The tables started to turn though when it became apparent John had another surprise up his sleeve. As he stood in his own grave, he told Caleb and Cain that he had an email scheduled to send to the police, which confirmed Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly) killed her father Anthony.

John told the siblings that if they didn’t help him go on the run, he would ensure the police found out about the murder.

Wanting to protect Ruby, Caleb chose to assist John with the plan. Due to the fact Cain still wanted John to face some sort of consequence for killing his son, Caleb had to take drastic action to buy them some time.

He knocked Cain out with a shovel, locked him in the boot of his car, and then drove a truck to the border, with John in the back.

The last we saw of John, he was deleting the scheduled email and giving Caleb the location of where Anthony’s body is buried.

While that was the final time we saw John IRL, we have seen a picture of him – in Coronation Street.

An image of the crazed medic was displayed within a Wanted poster, which was pinned up on a notice board in the Weatherfield Police Station.

As a result of this discovery, fans have become convinced that John will play a key part in the upcoming crossover episode, which is called Corriedale.

To add to this theory, soap writer Sharon Marshall has been discussing the possibility of John showing up in the instalment.

In yesterday’s episode of This Morning, she pondered to hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley:

‘I think we’d be kind of robbed if we didn’t see that confrontation between the two of them [Cain and John]. I’m wondering, because his Wanted picture has appeared in the Weatherfield Police Station, whether there might be a final chapter where we see his comeuppance.’

‘Possibly in Corriedale.’

Ben was left very intrigued, could John head to the cobbles as he continues to evade justice?

At the start of this month, it was confirmed that filming had officially began for the episode, which will air at the start of 2026.

The instalment will mark the start of a new soap power hour schedule, with Emmerdale airing at 8pm and then Corrie following afterwards at 8:30pm.

Iain MacLeod, ITV’s Executive Producer for Continuing Drama, teased what’s ahead and said: ‘It’s beyond exciting that filming is under way on Corriedale. There is a massive buzz around both the Leeds and Manchester sites and the images coming out of the shoot are utterly spectacular.

‘And that’s before we’ve even got to all the brilliant transpennine interactions between characters from the different shows!

He added: ‘As a soap fan myself, I think my head is going to explode when the episode airs next year. It will be mind-blowing, historical and unmissable.’