Emmerdale fans were left speechless as an unrecognisable star returned to screen on Thursday

An Emmerdale star has left viewers doing a “double take” after their transformation.

ITV soap viewers will know that Archie Breckle (Adam and Liyana Shahzad) is the son of Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) and Rachel Breckle (Gemma Oaten). After discovering that she was pregnant, Rachel planned to have an abortion, but Jai stopped her as his former wife, Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), didn’t want any more children at the time.

Rachel went on the run with Archie in January 2014 to protect Sam Dingle (James Hooton), after Charity and Declan Macey (Jason Merrells) set fire to Home Farm and planted evidence to suggest that Sam was the culprit. The cleaner returned to the Dales the following year to give evidence at Charity’s trial.

Archie later made his village comeback in 2019, with new actor Kai Assi taking over the role. The teen returned to the Dales after Rachel suddenly died from an undisclosed cardiac issue, while Archie was staying at a friend’s house. Archie now lives with his dad full-time.

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Last year, Jai embarked on a brief romance with his employee, Kerry Wyatt (Laura Norton). He was therefore devastated to learn that Kerry had gotten married to Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) in a surprise ceremony on Christmas Eve 2025.

Soap fans will know that the only reason Eric made Kerry his bride was to siphon cash for his grandson Jacob Gallagher’s (Joe-Warren Plant) future to her, with the rest of the villagers soon realising their plan.

This week, Kerry and Jai continued to explore their romantic connection behind closed doors, whilst Kerry berated her boss in front of her friends and colleagues, including Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle).

During Thursday’s (March 5) episode, which is now available to stream on ITVX, Kerry went to meet Jai in his office, but was instead greeted by Archie.

Thinking it was Jai walking through the door, Kerry said: “Ah, well hello! I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in you. I sent you a picture last night and everything, and what did I get?”

After realising she was speaking to Archie, Kerry quickly backtracked, saying she sent a work photo to Caleb Miligan (William Ash). Archie explained that he’d been let out of school early, and asked to see his dad. Kerry then helped the teenager with his homework until his dad returned to the depot.

After watching the scenes, several Emmerdale fans were left speechless at how grown up Archie looked since he was last on screen.

“Omg… couldn’t believe that was Archie. He already looked grown up last time we saw him, but he’s changed so quickly. I recognised his face but still had to check the subtitles to make sure it was actually him,” one person wrote on a Facebook fan page.

Another added: “I thought he’d been recast,” while a third said: “I love how funny all the kids are. I couldn’t believe how much they have changed. Always doing a double take.”