Jo Sugden

Josephine "Jo" Madonna Sugden (née Stiles) is a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Roxanne Pallett.

Overview

Jo Stiles's "sexy bombshell" character arrived in the Dales after Paddy Kirk went looking for a temporary receptionist.

She was soon noticed by the local men – especially Max King and Danny Daggert. Jo and Danny went on a date but they agreed he was far too tame for a bad girl like her. So with no potential boyfriends on the scene, Jo settled into her job as vet's receptionist. Needing somewhere to live, she moved into Connelton View with Dawn Woods and her son, TJ.

Storylines

After seeing some chemistry between her new best mate, Dawn, and former flame Danny, Jo set the pair up. However, Jo’s carefree, single life seemed attractive to Dawn so she dumped Danny. Jo’s other attempt at matchmaking also went wrong. Jo tried to help her lonely boss, Paddy Kirk, by inventing a chatroom girlfriend for him called Fireblade. It seemed like harmless fun until a frustrated Paddy booked a ticket to Portugal to track down Fireblade. When Paddy returned with vivacious Toni Daggert (Danny Daggert's cousin) on his arm, Jo knew she wasn’t Fireblade and became desperate to stop her taking him for a ride. The joke, however, was on Jo. Paddy had guessed what she was up to and he and Toni were winding Jo up to pay her back.

Jo was happy living at Connelton View but trouble was on the horizon when Scott Windsor arrived. He tried to seduce Jo but she turned him down. Dawn, however, believed something was going on. Although they sorted it out, Dawn's mum, Jean Hope, chucked Jo out for being behind with her rent. Feeling guilty that her mum hadn't given Jo much notice, Dawn arranged for Jo to move in with Andy and Katie Sugden at Butlers' Farm. She knew that they didn't have much money and could use Jo's rent. She soon started an affair with Andy behind Katie's back. When Katie found out about the affair she moved out of Butlers.

Becoming part of the Sugden family

Following Katie's departure, Jo took over helping Andy run the farm and look after little Sarah. Jo carried on working at the vets' initially, but Hari sacked her as he had added a few things to Edna's bill. Jo did the accounts and Hari didn't want her asking questions. Andy was pleased but Jo wasn't as she was now dependent on Andy for money.

Money was tight as Andy had paid for his and Katie's divorce so Jo started her own business, making organic goat's cheese. Andy and Jo got engaged, following his divorce from Katie. Andy also asked Jo to adopt Sarah and she agreed initially as Debbie had told Andy she wouldn't oppose it.

Andy and Jo marry

Unfortunately, following the fire at Tenants' Cottage, Andy confessed to the manslaughter of his adoptive mother, Sarah Sugden. Just as Andy and Jo planned to marry, Andy's solicitor arrived, telling him he was wanted in court. Andy was sentenced to three years in prison. Andy asked Jo to marry him while he was in prison. Jo wasn't sure but went ahead with it as she didn't want to disappoint Andy.

While in prison, Andy made an enemy of Charlie Sellers. Charlie was released before Andy and his revenge was to move into Butlers' Farm. He stayed there, initially in the barn but moved into the house and threatened that he would have Andy hurt if Jo didn't do as he said. He also threatened little Sarah. When Jo told Debbie, Debbie wanted to remove Sarah but Jo wouldn't let her. Eventually Debbie and Chas managed to get rid of Charlie by asking a favour of the MacFarlanes, local criminals known to the Dingles.

Andy's abuse of Jo

Not long after Charlie left, Andy was released on appeal. He immediately got on to Social Services about Sarah's adoption and was told that Debbie had not returned the papers. He went to see her and she told him she needed more time so Andy went to see his solicitor. Andy wasn't happy when the solicitor told him it wasn't that simple.

In April 2008, Terry Woods's son, TJ, was admitted to hospital with e coli. This was reported to Environmental Health who investigated all groceries bought by Terry, including some of Jo's goat cheese. The culprit was a local supermarket but Jo's business suffered and Andy insisted she sell the goats.

About the same time, Debbie asked Jo for access to Sarah as Andy had always refused. On Sarah's first visit to Debbie, Andy returned early as he wanted to spend some time with her and realised Jo was lying about Sarah's whereabouts. When he realised she was with Debbie, he wanted to go and get her but Jo wouldn't let him, leading to a fight. Jo tried to stop him leaving and he lost his temper and hit her.

Both Andy and Jo were horrified and although Andy promised it would never happen again, it did. Andy put Jo in hospital twice with broken bones. Sam Dingle and Jake Doland helped out at the farm but Andy, not wanting witnesses, sacked them but not before Sam realised Andy was hitting Jo. Sam tried telling his family but they refused to listen. Debbie only listened after seeing a picture Sarah drew of Andy and Jo. Debbie confronted Jo and after Jo admitted it, Debbie warned her if Sarah was harmed in any way, she would remove her.

Terrified of another beating, Jo lied that she was pregnant. The lie continued for several weeks, until Andy found out the truth as Jo was about to flee. This situation was only resolved after another fight between Andy and Jo - Andy chased Jo to the barn, and when she shoved him away, he was accidentally impaled. Jo left him to die, but quickly returned. By the time she got back, Daz had arrived. Andy was sent to hospital. When Jo tried to tell her story, Andy claimed that Jo had been abusing him. Soon Diane and then Daz and Victoria saw through his act.

Jo's exit

On Andy's discharge from hospital, he moved into the Woolpack with his stepmother, Diane, and sister, Victoria. Jo threw him out of the farmhouse and refused to allow him to work on the farm. His ex-wife, Katie, took pity on him and gave him a job at the stables, but when he made a pass at Katie and then began verbally abusing her when she turned him down, Katie realised his true nature. She went to see Jo and, despite having had their differences, she comforted Jo and told her that she would never be free of Andy unless she left the village.

Jo ran the farm with help from her neighbours, the Naylors. Debbie and the other Dingles were helping Jo make sure little Sarah was properly taken care of. Money got tighter and tighter, and the Kings lost everything, meaning ownership of the farm would revert to the bank. Various items began to break, and Andy would stop by to repair them. Jo was grateful, but one day, Lee Naylor saw Andy damaging the washing machine. A fight erupted, and it dawned on Jo that Andy had been breaking and repairing appliances to win back her trust. Jo had finally had enough and knew that desparate measures were needed if she were ever to be free of Andy's manipulation.

On 22 December, in an act of desperation, Jo and Lee sold as much farm equipment as they could, in order for Jo and Sarah to get away. Right before Jo was to leave, Mick Naylor arrived on the farm. Jo locked Mick in the barn, as she couldn't trust him to not tell Andy. Mick begged Jo not to take Sarah. Following this, Jo left in the landrover with Sarah and drove out of the village. However, she decided to leave Sarah Sugden with the Dingles and then texted Lee telling him where Mick was. The next day she texted Andy telling him to go to farm to meet her so he could see what she had done.

In May 2009, Andy and Debbie were in the midst of a custody battle for Sarah. Debbie's father, Cain Dingle, told social services about Andy's abuse of Jo. Andy and Victoria denied he had ever hurt Jo, but when Jo was contacted by the court, she made a statement about what Andy had done to her. In the end, Andy gave custody to Debbie.