Who is Jacob Gallagher in Emmerdale and will he have an affair with Maya Stepney?

JACOB Gallagher got off to a rocky start with Maya Stepney when she started dating his dad.

But now it seems like he's attracted to her and is becoming increasingly jealous - here's the lowdown...

Who is Jacob Gallagher in Emmerdale?
Jacob's real mum is Leyla Harding – played by Roxy Shahidi – and was born after she had an affair with her brother-in-law, Justin Gallagher.

Justin’s wife Alicia raised Jacob as her own when Leyla gave her baby to her because Alicia was infertile.

Alicia and Justin split and she moved to Emmerdale with Jacob in 2010. Leyla was dating David Metcalfe and Jacob began to see him as a father figure.

Later Alicia and David got together and married and he began calling him dad.

In 2013, Jacob discovered that Leyla was his birth mum and he struggled to accept the news.

In 2015 Alicia was sexually assaulted by Lachlan White and eventually moved to Portugal taking Jacob with her. He was devastated when David didn’t want to come.

Jacob returned the following year and decided to stay with David.

He was devastated when David was diagnosed with testicular cancer but pleased when he married Tracy Shankley – Amy Walsh.

Will Jacob Gallagher have an affair with Maya Stepney in Emmerdale?
Jacob definitely has a soft spot for his dad's girlfriend.

But could she feel the same way about him?

David and Tracy split in 2018 when Tracy discovered David had slept with Leyla.

Jacob hoped they would get back together but David began seeing Jacob's teacher Maya.

At first this angered Jacob, especially since she was the one to break the news that Tracy had secretly had an abortion.

But now he's realised that he has a crush on her and tries to hide his jealousy by pretending that he's sleeping with Liv Flaherty.

Who plays Jacob Gallagher in Emmerdale?
Teenage Jacob is played by 16-year-old actor Joe-Warren Plant.

He was born in Lancashire on April 12 2002.

He first appeared in Emmerdale back in 2010 when he was just eight years old.

You can find him on Twitter @JACObGEmmerdale where he’s got over 24,000 followers. He’s also on Instagram @joeplant10.