Christmas has finally arrived in Emmerdale, and it wouldn’t be the festive season in soap world without a few unexpected events taking place in the village.

It’s already been a jam-packed week for the residents of Emmerdale, as Ray and Celia planned to leave the Dales behind for good but Ray remained hopeful that it wouldn’t be the last time he’d spend Christmas with Laurel Thomas.

Meanwhile, Aaron and Robert realised who was threatening them as Kev Townsend returned after a few weeks away from the ITV soap. Determined to exact his revenge on the couple, Kev showed no signs of letting up on Christmas Eve.

For others, it’s due to be a lonely Christmas as Kim Tate has continued to isolate herself from loved ones following the devastating night that led to her horse, Ice, being put down due to a leg injury.

Not to mention, the ITV soap is warming up for its explosive and highly-anticipated crossover with Coronation Street that’s set to air in the first week of the new year.

However, there was one festive surprise left in store for viewers on Christmas Eve. A wedding had been teased, but as fans of the soap expected it to be Sarah and Jacob, a twist left the audience in shock.

While Sarah and Jacob headed to the registry office on their own, there surprise was paramount as they saw Kerry and Eric Pollard doing the exact same thing.

Kerry was dressed head to toe in hot pink, while Pollard looked rather suave in his suit. Leaving the room as man and wife, the pair were interrogated and admitted it was purely a financial agreement, with Kerry agreeing to be his sixth wife.

Back at the Woolpack, Pollard and Kerry faced interrogation from the other villagers, and while Kerry attempted to prove it was legit, she struggled to kiss him in front of everyone.

As the episode aired, viewers took to social media to attempt to digest the surprise double wedding as no one saw Kerry and Pollard saying “I do” in the pipeline of the show.

On X (formerly known as Twitter), @charityslimo wrote “soaps are so wild like wdym ar kerry has just married eric pollard on christmas eve and become his sixth wife am actually howling but also wtf !!!”

@kerrym3101 added: “as a casual emmerdale viewer i was very confused” as Kerry and Pollard often describe having a father-daughter dynamic on the soap. Another viewer @kjlherbalife penned: “This was absolutely not on my bingo card for Xmas Eve. Eric and Kerry wedding”.

@claudettestea echoed: “When Emmerdale drops the Christmas Eve wedding ep but it’s not who you were expecting” as @matt528chap replied: “Me when that happened this morning…”

Emmerdale airs on Christmas Day at 6:15pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.