Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale star Jay Kontzle has appeared to rule out an affair storyline for his character Billy Fletcher and village doctor Manpreet Sharma.
The ITV soap is exploring an unexpected connection between the two characters, which culminates in Manpreet betraying her partner Charles Anderson next week.
Manpreet has realised that she has a crush on Billy after signing up for his new personal training sessions in the village hall.
Next week, Manpreet kisses Billy on the lips after getting drunk with her friends at The Woolpack. Billy rejects her but there’s trouble ahead when Charles finds out what happened.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other press about Manpreet’s feelings for Billy, Jay laughed: “It’s one of those things where in the back of your mind you’re like ‘God, why have you done that?’
“But at the same time, I think that Billy and Dawn are that strong that nothing can really fracture their relationship. I think that there’s nothing there that would make Dawn think any differently of Billy.
“Dawn doesn’t think that Billy is that type of person so I don’t think it’s really a significant worry there at all – it’s just one of those things.”
Billy was previously caught up in a similar scenario with Gabby Thomas when she also tried to kiss him. He stayed loyal to Dawn by setting boundaries with Gabby.
Jay added: “He loves Dawn, he loves his family. From day one, Billy’s very much focused around family. Even though we’ve got children in Clemmie and Lucas, they’ve got their own child now that brings them together fully, and that’s exactly what Billy was after.
“I don’t think that any outside influence is going to fracture the relationship, it would be something internal.”
Meanwhile, a big storyline begins for Billy and Dawn next week when their baby son Evan is diagnosed with leukaemia.
Emmerdale airs the Manpreet and Billy scenes in Monday’s episode (April 29).
