A dramatic shoot-out in Emmerdale on Tuesday 25th June saw Jessie Dingle (Sandra Marvin) get shot when gangster Max staged an armed siege at her house, holding her and husband Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) hostage.

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While the harassed head teacher recovers from her injuries Marlon must surely be wondering whether he's to blame for his wife's misfortune seeing as all his love interests invariably end up having their lives ruined - or in some cases, ended - once they become involved with him. Don't believe us? Here are six reasons it is NOT a good idea to be romantically linked to the unlucky chef…

You might get shot in the stomach
The most recent case in point is Jessie, who took a bullet when menacing Max the thug sought revenge on her jailbird son Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) and stormed into her and Marlon's house. A tense tussle ended with Marlon cradling his missus after she was shot in the stomach before armed police stormed in and saved the day, whisking Jessie off to hospital. Marlon blames Billy for bringing his criminal feud to his family's door, but evidence suggests it's no coincidence she nearly came a cropper just months after they tied the knot…

You might be crushed to death by a collapsing pub in a hurricane
Chirpy cockney barmaid Tricia Stokes tied the knot with lovable geek Marlon on Valentine's Day 2003. His one-night stand with cousin Charity Dingle drove a wedge between them, but by the end of the year she was ready to forgive and forget - just as a freak storm hit the village. A tree stuck by lightning crashed into a Woolpack window that hit doomed Tricia who was outside the pub, while the chimney caved in and fell through the inside of the hostelry burying the locals, trapping Tricia beneath the rubble. She was eventually found and airlifted to hospital where she was pronounced brain dead, with distraught Marlon eventually giving the go-ahead to turn the life support machine off.

You might end up falling off a the roof of a multi-storey car park
Alas poor Donna Windsor-Dingle. Marlon's second wife came back into his life in 2014 five years after walking out on him with a daughter, April, he never knew he had. Police officer Donna was also dying and became a corrupt cop in her final months. Entangled with local organised crime boss Gary, fatalistic Don handcuffed herself to him and jumped from the top ledge of a multi-storey car park plunging them both to their deaths. And you thought being buried beneath the Woolpack was a spectacular exit.

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You might get driven to drink and kill the family pet
Laurel Thomas went from respectable vicar's wife to local lush when she hooked up with Marlon. The pals become lovers and married in 2014, but the pain of Donna's death and April unexpectedly entering their lives set Laurel on the path to alcohol addiction and destroyed their relationship. It's hard to know what the real low point was - Laurel sneaking vodka into her morning orange juice and accidentally letting April drink it, then bribing the little girl to keep quiet, or Laurel driving while under the influence and running over her hubby's beloved dog Daisy. Her slurred defence of: "I'll get you another one!" was the last straw before Marlon threw her out.

You might find yourself hooked on painkillers
Rhona Goskirk may have left Marlon for his best mate Paddy Kirk in 2010, but the curse of being associated with the cook eventually manifested a few years later when the vet's life was shattered after she became addicted to prescription drugs originally prescribed for back pain. Sensible Rhona turned from clear-headed career woman to crazed junkie, raiding the surgery medical cabinet in search of a hit, seducing colleague Vanessa Woodfield to supply her with drugs, getting car-jacked by a local dealer and collapsing from kidney failure.

You might turn into a killer
Circa 2009, Marlon developed a crush on Moira Dingle when she first moved to the village as Mrs John Barton and worked alongside him at the Woolpack. Lonely after Donna first left him, Marlon flashed those puppy dog eyes and blubbed about being lonely, but when he confessed he was falling for his friend she let him down gently and assured him he'd meet the right woman some day. Fast forward to 2017 and Moira pushed sinister sister-in-law Emma Barton off a viaduct to her death as revenge for her killing her son Finn. Would that have happened if Marlon hadn't expressed a romantic interest in her and cast his unstoppable hex to cause future chaos? We think not.

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