Emmerdale shock as Moira Barton’s mystery illness revealed in bombshell news

EMMERDALE’S Moira Barton’s health mystery has been solved with doctors discovering a mass on her brain.

The farmer – who is played by actress Natalie J Robb in the ITV soap – has been suffering from memory loss, seizures and hallucinations for weeks as well as seeing her behaviour spiral out of control.

a woman with a serious look on her face
ITV
Moira has been told she has a mass on her brain – most likely a brain tumour[/caption]

In tonight’s episode she was rescued from the barn fire with no memory of how she got there.

But in the hospital as Moira tried to get Cain to understand that there was something seriously wrong with her, he tried batting it off – until she had a seizure.

Doctors managed to bring her out of it before sending her for a brain scan to get to the bottom of what was going on.

The doctor returned after the brain scan to give Moira the results.

He told her: “I don’t want to alarm you but there was an abnormality on the scan in the form of a mass which is putting a bit of pressure in the brain.”

Moira panicked, asking: “A mass? Like a tumour?”

The doctor told a panicking Moira: “Don’t get ahead of yourself. 

“The neurologist will order an MRI scan and then we’ll know more about the abnormality once that’s been carried out.”

Later Moira broke the news to Cain, telling him: “I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. 

“It makes sense, the way I’ve been behaving, the things I’ve done. It wasn’t me, and I’m not making excuses. 

“I’m so sorry for what I’ve put you through. And Nate, I’ve ruined his life too. Cain, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”

Cain was beating himself up about not realising something was wrong with Moira but Caleb told him to stop and focus on what he could do now.

But with Nate gone, beaten literally by Cain over a misunderstanding, he’s lost his son.

Moira Barton's biggest Emmerdale storylines

Played by Natalie J. Robb, Moira has become one of Emmerdale's most prominent characters since her debut in 2009.

AFFAIR WITH CAIN DINGLE

In October 2011, Moira began an affair with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), whom she had previously loathed.

At the time, she was married to first husband and childhood sweetheart John (James Thornton).

JOHN’S DEATH

In the characters’ backstory, John and Moira had been married since 1990. They shared three children: Adam, Hannah (now Matty) and Holly.

While John struggled to forgive Moira’s infidelity, he also realised he couldn’t live without her.

Ultimately, the character of John was written out by having a car accident and fatal cardiac arrest.

Afterwards, Moira and Cain began a relationship and later married.

ADAM’S PATERNITY

It transpired that Cain was not the first man that Moira had an affair with.

She previously slept with John’s brother James (Bill Ward) – with the revelation that he is her son Adam’s biological father.

MURDER OF EMMA BARTON

James’ estranged wife Emma (Gillian Kearney) was introduced as a soap villain, reuniting with her clan after two decades.

In October 2017, Emma was killed off in a who-dunnit storyline after being pushed off a viaduct.

She reappeared one last time in December 2017 for a flashback, where her killer was revealed to be archenemy Moira.

By the end of the episode Cain lay his head on sleeping Moira.

But will the couple survive what’s to come? And will Moira be able to be cured?