He has become a viewers’ favourite since joining Emmerdale nearly three years ago as Mackenzie Boyd.
But as his character finds himself at the centre of an explosive love triangle, actor Lawrence Robb says he definitely does not condone his actions.
Mack is set to marry Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) but after a one-night stand with Chloe (Jessie Elland), he has now found she is expecting his baby.
Charity and Mack lost a baby late last year and so his emotions, not to mention guilt, are running high.
Lawrence admitted: “I don’t condone what he did at all because he shouldn’t have done it. Mack has got himself in between a rock and a hard place.
“It’s like a Ross and Rachel situation in Friends where they were on a break. Charity told him to ‘go off and do what you want’, which he quite literally did.
“He has made a terrible mistake and now Chloe is carrying his baby.”
Lawrence, 31, has previously been linked with Scottish actress Joanne Thomson, but has never confirmed a relationship. He said he would “definitely not” get himself into a position like Mack, adding: “I don’t condone it and if it were me giving Mack advice now, I would have told him he should have told Charity a month or so ago.”
Lawrence is loving his time in the soap and revealed he and co-star Bradley Johnson, who plays Vinny Dingle, have received offers to make an album after recording a version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
He said: “We are both into music and wanted to do a jam together. It was fun but I wouldn’t say I was about to become a pop star.
“Mind you, there have been a lot of requests for an album. Maybe we could do a charity Christmas album this year.”
Lawrence said the fame that comes with being in a popular TV soap is not something he actively seeks out, even though viewers are nothing but nice towards him. He said: “Everyone is so pleasant, and I have had the occasional flirty message.”
He feels he has come a long way since joining in September 2020, adding: “For the first 18 months, my time was very different to what it is now.
“I joined in the pandemic and everyone was wearing masks at the start, so I didn’t know what anyone looked like.”
Grounded and jovial, Lawrence grew up in Kilmacolm, a village northwest of Glasgow, with his brothers JJ and Mitchell and sister Abi.
Both his mum, who worked for an airline, and his estate agent dad supported his acting ambitions.
First studying at the Dance School of Scotland, the trained actor moved to London at the age of 21 and it was not long before he landed a role in a
Harold Pinter play and other stage productions.
He recalled: “My first three or four years were elaborate name-dropping.My first job was opposite Rupert Grint. I starred with Daniel Mays and Brendan Coyle too. I learnt so much from them.”
Lawrence also starred alongside Billie Piper in I Hate Suzie and wants to stay in Emmerdale for as long as possible.
He enjoys playing a nasty character just as much as a loveable one and is not sure what the future holds for his soap character.
He added: “Mack was a lone wolf when I first joined. Now it is more emotional. He is very much into Charity but now with the baby, it’s so much more complicated. Who knows whether they will marry or not?”
Emmerdale is shown weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV.
