Emmerdale’s Ryan Hawley has played Robert Sugden for years but fans are only just discovering the actor’s real age

Emmerdale fans have been left floored after discovering the real age of Robert Sugden actor Ryan Hawley.

The actor shot to fame when he joined the ITV soap back in 2014 as Robert, and it didn’t take him long to cause some drama.

The fan favourite has played a part in some big storylines too. From his romance with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) to his PTSD struggles, Robert’s time in the Dales has not been short of drama.

Robert ended up leaving in 2019 when he was sent to prison for the murder of Lee Posner (Kris Mochrie), who raped his sister Victoria (Isabel Hodgins).

This year though, Robert made his epic comeback at his former flame Aaron’s wedding to secret killer John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth).

Since his return to the village, Robert has been determined to expose John, and last week, it all came crumbling down for John, when his crimes were exposed to the village.

However, away from the ITV soap Ryan recently celebrated a big birthday – and fans have been left gobsmacked by his age.

On an Emmerdale Facebook fan page, someone paid tribute to Ryan on his birthday and wrote: “Happy 40th birthday to Ryan Hawley who plays Robert Sugden.”

Rushing to the comments section, fans shared their shock over Ryan’s age. One person said: “Looks a lot younger.” Another added: “Never I’d have said 20 it’s in the genes.” A third declared: “Wow he doesn’t look 40.”

Actor Ryan previously shared his excitement about being back at Emmerdale. He said: ”Rejoining the cast of Emmerdale feels fantastic. I’ve been having so much fun being back here. Oddly, more fun than I thought it was going to be, in a good way.“

And bosses resorted to desperate measure to keep his return a huge secret. He explained: “I was given a code name of ‘Marco’, In fact I think everyone’s sick of hearing the name Marco.

“I’ve been using a secret entrance to get into the building and I’ve had a driver picking me up from my house and driving me to Emmerdale. There’s so much effort that’s gone into it. I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t tell my family or friends.”