A character on Emmerdale jumped in to stop Kev Townsend from leaving the village on Friday after he was set up, and it could lead to the pair teaming up in an unlikely friendship20:33, 10 Jul 2026Updated 20:34, 10 Jul 2026Kev Townsend might have found himself an ally on Emmerdale, and it could keep him on the show.‌The character was considering leaving this week, as Friday's episode saw him accused of a crime. Kev's son Lewis Barton and Nicola King were shocked to find their café trashed, with money stolen.‌Of course fingers pointed straight to Kev, who was quick to protest his innocence. Kev knew immediately he was being framed, but it wasn't until further into the episode that we found out the truth.‌Café co-owner Nicola had set the whole thing up, but she wasn't working alone. Nicola teamed up with Lewis' brother Ross Barton to get rid of Kev for once and for all, claiming they were "doing it for Lewis' sake".So while Lewis decided his dad Kev was to blame and tearful Kev tried to prove he had been set up, Nicola and Ross knew the entire time that they were the guilty ones.‌But they weren't the only ones that knew the truth. Ross was so smug about his framing of Kev, he confessed all to the absolute worst person.Ross and Nicola had been boasting about how much their plan had been a success, believing Kev was leaving the village for good. Not long after, Ross visited Mack Boyd, and told him everything.Mack listened confused as he heard Ross talking about the robbery and how Lewis had told Kev to leave. Mack had only spoken with Kev days earlier, where they had a heart-to-heart over Mack's turmoil, and Kev's want to bond with his son Lewis.‌Knowing how keen Kev was to fix things with his son, Mack knew full well he wouldn't do anything to risk it, let alone steal from Lewis' business. It didn't take Mack long to figure out Ross had set up Kev, and he confronted him.Mack actually seemed pretty disgusted by it, no doubt spurred on by his own secret fury at Ross. Mack very recently found out that his wife Charity Dingle had a fling with Ross months ago, leading to Charity falling pregnant.‌Charity gave birth to baby Leyla earlier this year and lied that it was her granddaughter Sarah Sugden's baby. Charity had agreed to be Sarah's surrogate, and Sarah is still under the belief that baby Leyla, the daughter she and husband Jacob are raising, is her child.Very few people know that baby Leyla is actually the child of Charity and Ross. Ross has no idea that Mack knows, and so when he was gloating about ruining Kev's chances with Lewis, Mack decided to take revenge for both him and Kev.Mack tracked down Kev, told him to stay and revealed all about Ross confessing to the set-up. Kev was furious as Mack admitted it was Ross and Nicola who did it, Ross had admitted as much, and they had done it to make him leave.‌Mack stepped up to save Kev from an early exit, and from possibly losing Lewis forever. He made Kev see he had to stick around and that the truth would come out, leading to Kev deciding he would remain in the village and fix things with Lewis.Given these scenes and previous scenes with Mack and Kev, it's certainly an unlikely duo we did not see coming. That said, does this seal a blossoming friendship, and mean that Mack will not only have his back in future, but Mack could be the one to expose Nicola and Ross to Lewis?Article continues belowAfter all, Mack has already exposed Nicola and Ross and their lies, by telling Kev the truth. So what's to stop Mack taking things further, and telling Lewis who really trashed the café, and that Kev was innocent?Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .