Serena Sugden’s (Casey Al-Shaqsy) link to the Sugden family tree has been confirmed in Emmerdale.

The newcomer arrived last month, with her first scenes seeing her discovering Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) by the side of a lake.

Serena was driving in the area and needed to go to the loo, but her movements in the bushes ended up startling Charity, who was in a very dark and low place.

Charity had been spiralling in the aftermath of Doctor Caitlin Todd (Caroline Harker) sexually assaulting her. When Serena approached and put her hand out, Charity immediately went to defend herself and smacked Serena in the face.

Charity believed that she could trust Serena, and confided in her about Doctor Todd and baby Leyla. Serena was kind and listened carefully to everything that Charity said. As they walked back to their cars, Serena helped Charity see that if she reported Doctor Todd to the police about the blackmail, it would potentially help with getting her convicted.

In the cafe, Serena overheard Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) talking about Emmerdale Farm. With Robert Sugden’s (Ryan Hawley) home address in her mind, Serena headed up the road to find it.

Serena – for some reason – decided to let herself into Robert and Aaron Dingle’s (Danny Miller) home. She was caught by Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill), who was on the phone to Robert at the time, in search of a present for baby Leyla.

Sarah was startled, but Serena was quick to introduce herself.

Ever since the newbie’s casting was announced, fans of the ITV soap have been intrigued as to how exactly she’s related to characters including Sarah, Robert and Andy.

Sarah didn’t recognise Serena, and was curious when she said that Robert is her cousin.

The new face confirmed that her Granddad was Robert’s dad’s cousin. This means that Serena and Robert are distant cousins.

It became apparent that Serena and Sarah last saw each other at Jackie’s wedding, when Sarah was a child and unwell with cancer.

More details on Serena Sugden’s family tree

A few weeks after her first scenes, star Casey took to her Instagram to share more about Serena and Robert’s family connection.

To clear up the confusion, Casey explained that Serena is the great granddaughter of Edward Sugden.

In the very first Emmerdale episode, which aired in 1972, characters attended the funeral of Jacob Sugden. Jacob and Edward were brothers.

As Jacob was the father of Robert’s dad, Jack Sugden, that makes Robert and Serena second cousins once removed. This is a bit of a mouthful, which is why they refer to each other as cousins.

Serena has faced many challenges while getting settled into village life, as she’s been forced to prove time and time again that she isn’t like John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth).

It was clear that, just like many other villagers, Serena had fallen for John’s charm. Once she had explained herself properly to Robert and Aaron, they gave her another chance.

Not long after making a comment about being completely truthful moving forwards, Serena’s next secret was revealed.

It was confirmed that she had broken into Home Farm and stolen a USB stick from Kim Tate (Claire King).

At the moment, no-one knows why Serena is digging for information on the Tates, but what we do know is that she’s communicating with someone via text about what she’s up to.