Emmerdale legend reveals how Mackenzie Boyd was written out of soap amid Lawrence Robb’s Strictly stint

Emmerdale star Emma Atkins has revealed that Mackenzie Boyd was written out of the ITV soap "last minute" after actor Lawrence Robb signed up to Strictly Come Dancing 2026.

Robb, who plays Mack, the husband of Emma’s character Charity Dingle, was announced as the twelfth celebrity to be joining the BBC dancing competition last month.

Speaking to The Sun at the Inside Soap Awards, Atkins said: "We were filming a scene where we had to get him out so he could go and do it as he’d just got the phone call [from Strictly] and they wrote him out very quickly."

Adding that he dropped viewers a hint about his Strictly stint, she added: "He has this moment where he tells Charity he is going to work in Germany, and at the end of the scene I say ‘go on then, you may as well go’ and he does this little flick [like a shimmy] and I was like ‘the audience are going to know’, it was very very well done."

Speaking in a statement about his casting on Strictly, Lawrence previously said he feels "overwhelmed" as well as "nervous, trepidatious, but excited is the overriding emotion".

He added: "I've never done anything like this before, and from the very minimal dancing that I've done in the past, I know that it's going to be an uphill battle from the get-go. I think once things kick off, I'll probably understand what I've got myself into!"

The actor went on to joke that his mum is probably more excited than him, adding: "And for someone that is going to host Strictly parties every Saturday, I kind of feel like I owe it to her to do at least relatively well so she can carry on hosting them!"

Strictly returned to our screens on Saturday night (19 September), introducing fans to the brand-new hosting trio, while also revealing the celebrity and professional dancer pairings.

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Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.

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Authors

Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.