Storylines
Val Lambert arrived in Emmerdale in February 2004 much to the surprise of her sister Diane Blackstock. The relationship between them had always been difficult as Diane had helped bring Val up after their mother died.
On her arrival, Val was sporting a black eye, which she told Diane was her ex-boyfriend's fault. When he arrived, he revealed that Val had persuaded him to pay for her to have a nose job before fleeing. Always on the lookout for the next man to fund her lifestyle, Val was delighted to find her ex-brother-in-law Rodney Blackstock living in Emmerdale and was now a millionaire. They soon embarked on a relationship and Val worked with Diane in the pub. Val was never happy with just one man and two timed Rodney with his employee Danny Daggert. She eventually chose Rodney, believing him to be the better long term choice.
However, when Diane was diagnosed with colon cancer, Rodney was devastated and realised he was still in love with her. Diane rejected him but he ended his relationship with Val as he could no longer pretend to care for her. Furious and rejected, Val went to Italy to stay with her son Paul's lover Enzo and returned for Diane’s wedding to local farmer Jack Sugden and she wasn’t alone. Val arrived with a drop dead gorgeous hunk, half her age, causing shock and gossip amongst the villagers.
When it was revealed she’d paid him to pretend to be her boyfriend, Diane disowned her - sick of being lied to. Furious at being rejected by both Diane and Rodney, Val revealed that she and Rodney had had an affair when he was married to Diane and that Rodney was the father of her son, Paul. Horrified by her actions, Val was disowned by everyone close to her but remained optimistic that she could turn it around.
Following these events, she became close to fellow unpopular villager Eric Pollard and they began a partnership, both professional and personal. Together they launched a fabrics company and Eric tried to relaunch his career in politics.
However, while he was madly in love with Val, Eric remained deeply selfish and when it became clear that she was standing in the way of his political career, Eric turned on her. Although they agreed to pretend to split up, Val was horrified to hear Eric disowning her to the local mayor and dumped him – causing tension at the factory.
Val was plunged into a new nightmare when Jimmy Pepper, the man who’d brought Paul up believing he was his father, turned up in Emmerdale. Jimmy was horrified to hear that Val had lied to him about Paul’s paternity – especially as he’d paid a fortune in maintenance. Jimmy wanted his money back and was prepared to go to any means to get it. Terrified, Val stole the Woolpack’s takings to pay Jimmy, and pretended she’d been mugged.
When the truth was revealed, Diane reported Val to the police for theft. The resulting trial saw Val given community service which threw her into conflict with local pensioner Noreen Bell. While at first, Val hated Noreen, the two women became friends, joining forces to oppose Eric when he stood for council again. By now, Val and Eric were close to being back together and she ended up running against him in the election. For a while, the sparring and banter helped keep the spark alive between them but when she thought it might end their relationship for good, she tried turning the electorate against her by confessing her lying and scheming over the years. It didn’t work and Eric remained behind her in the race. But they worked it out in the end and got back together.
Val has always dreamed of being rich and she thought she was on her way after investing money in Pearl Ladderbanks’ Internet Investment Scheme, unaware it was a con. When the truth came out, Val held no punches and Pearl left the village for a while.
Val's dreams of being rich came about through unfortunate circumstances. When Noreen died in the Kings River Showhome explosion she left her money, which she saved for decades, to Val. Her only relative was a second cousin who couldn't be bothered to keep in touch and hadn't even reported her missing. Val reported her missing after not seeing her for days as she was worried. Val bought half the Woolpack, much to Diane's shock.
She recently became attracted to Billy Hopwood and went on a date with him which went well. Problem was, she didn't realise Billy and Diane had feelings for each other.
On 2 October Val realised Diane had gone away because of another man. When visiting Billy in prison, whilst talking about Jack and Diane, she realised Billy was jealous. That made Val realise Billy was her sister's mystery man. This ended with Val in tears.
When Val found she was having problems with her eyesight, Paul's boyfriend Jonny Foster insisted that she go to the opticians and get things checked out, Jonny accompanied her to the opticians and she was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes. Eric, surprisingly, stuck by her and helped her through it. Especially after she accidentally knocked down little Samson while driving. Also, Eric proposed to Val and she accepted.
Val planned Paul's civil partnership to Jonny, and also planned to renovate Woolpack, or as she wanted to rename it, "Wool". Diane refused to allow her changes but they united in their efforts to win the Pub of the Year competition. Meanwhile, Eric was behaving erratically. Val eventually stumbled on the fact he was being blackmailed over his almost affair with a council acquaintance named Rosalind. When Val tracked him down at a money drop, he assumed she was the blackmailer, but Val soon guessed that Rosalind was responsible. They forced her to give all the money back.
All the plans for other events made Val determined to have a lavish wedding. Eric had a cheaper idea in mind and convinced her family to help him plan a surprise wedding set right after the Pub of the Year competition. That way they could use the same venue and Eric even sold tickets under the guise that it was for the competition. Val was thrilled at the support of Eric and her family - even her estranged daughter Sharon Lambert visited.
The morning of the competition, Val was accidentally knocked out by Lisa Dingle carrying a big bag of linens. Lisa and Val had been feuding and Lisa worried Val might have it out for her. Eli Dingle tied and gagged Val while Lisa was gone, intending to ransom her. Val was fuming at the Dingles until Lisa let it slip Eric was planning the wedding for that day. To get revenge, Val played along with the Dingles and called Eric, pretending to be the helpless victim. The "ransom" was £10,000 for her freedom. Eric tracked her down at the Dingles and when she overheard his kind words about her, she emerged from hiding. They had a huge row which only ended when the family shoved them into a van and drove them back to the village.
Val decided to follow her heart and go through with the ceremony. Eventually, they married in a church filled with friends and family on 3 June 2008.
Recently Sam Dingle burnt down the factory, when Eric confided in him about his financial difficulty. Val went on a spree of accusations, starting with Pearl Ladderbanks. The cause of the fire was found to be Pearl's heater and the insurance refused to pay out. Consequently Eric and Val have taken over rooms at the B&B until they've made enough money to get their factory repaired.
More recently she has become involved in the church choir, being very vocal in both the singing and numerous arguments in the group. She did really believe in the cause and even made t-shirts but they were unable to wear then as too many of the group left, so the word it spelled was not actually a word. During the competition Betty disappeared causing Val to take over miming Gennie's voice, Gennie was too shy to sing in public, she however started to choke on nothing and the deceit was uncovered causing them to lose but to still gain special recognition after Gennie did perform onstage. She later learned her husband Eric had been involved in a scam to get the church, he is currently sleeping on their couch.
She has also become a second mother to Victoria Sugden who she had to babysit while her main carer, Diane, was off visiting Bernice in Brighton in December. Originally very against looking after her and having many arguments with her she has slowly bonded with her and has recently taking her in, fully.
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