Bob Hope is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Tony Audenshaw. Prior to playing Bob, the actor had previously made a guest appearance in the show as a security guard. Bob was introduced as a hosiery salesman and love interest for Viv Windsor (Deena Payne). He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 19 September 2000. Bob is portrayed as having a happy-go-lucky, cheeky persona, and is Emmerdale's most married character with seven marriages to five women. His storylines have included marriage, divorce, fatherhood, adultery and homelessness plus the deaths of two of his children, Dawn Woods (Julia Mallam) in 2006 and Heath Hope (Sebastian Dowling) in 2024.

In 2000, Emmerdale began airing five nights a week, and producer Kieran Roberts planned to introduce six new characters, the first of which was Bob, who made his first appearance in September. Roberts teased Bob's arrival during an interview with Inside Soap's Rachel Roberts, saying he was "an outrageous, very funny character". He said Bob was a hosiery salesman who would "provide some long overdue love interest for Viv Windsor." Tony Audenshaw auditioned for the role earlier that year. He previously had a guest role in the serial as a security guard. Deena Payne, who plays Viv Windsor, was screen tested with Audenshaw and five other actors. When the producer asked if she had a preference, she replied that she did not like the fourth actor, who turned out to be Audenshaw.

A couple of weeks later, the producer told Payne that Audenshaw had been cast as Bob. Payne told Tony Purnell from the Daily Mirror that she dreaded her first scene with Audenshaw and was nervous about "getting up close and personal" with him. However, when the two actors got talking in between scenes, they started to get on well. Audenshaw commented "I'm aware Deena didn't think I was right for the part at first. But we clicked early on and have built up a great working relationship. People assume she is like Viv – a nightmare on the set and a bitch to work with. I just say, 'Yeah, she is', but I'm only joking."

Audenshaw said that he loved the comedy aspect to Bob, but was not keen on his "ludicrous hairstyle". The actor explained that it took ages "to quiff up" and spray it, so it would stay in place. While travelling around the country selling hosiery, Bob meets Viv, who had not had a major love interest since the death of her husband two years prior. Audenshaw joked that as soon as Bob meets Viv "there's animal passion" between them. He continued, "At the beginning it's more from him than her, but he soon charms Viv and they become very flirty." He believed Bob was the right man for Viv, as he has confidence and a fun personality.

On his ITV profile, Bob is described as a "ladies' man", as well as a joker that is "full of bright ideas". It notes that as an ex-salesman, not all of his business ideas were successful, but that his awareness changed when he decided to open the café in Emmerdale village. The profile details that Bob has been married to five different women, but that his "fear of commitment" was "quashed" when he got with Brenda Walker (Lesley Dunlop). Bob is billed as a "loveable, optimistic, compassionate, funny, popular" character that likes flirting and attending parties, and dislikes being alone.

In Bob's fictional backstory, he was married and divorced four times before his introduction. His first wife was Jean Hope (Julie Higginson; Susan Penhaligon), whom he married and divorced twice. She is the mother of Dawn (Julia Mallam) and Jamie Hope (Alex Carter), but the marriage ended when he walked out. His third marriage was to Barbara Hope; they also had two children, Josh Hope (Marc Silcock) and Carly Hope (Rebecca Ryan; Gemma Atkinson), but this marriage ended in divorce when he again walked out. His fourth marriage was to American Vonda Lockhart (Lorelei King) in Las Vegas while drunk, which he regretted the following day. Vonda fell pregnant on their wedding night, resulting in the birth of daughter Roxy.

As part of his job as a sales representative for Naughty Nylons, Bob comes to Emmerdale for business. He and Viv Windsor are immediately attracted to each other and they begin a relationship. Bob moves in with Viv and tries to make friends with her daughter Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth). He proposes while drunk and he and Viv marry the following year. Bob's daughter Dawn moves to the village and gets engaged to his friend, Terry Woods (Billy Hartman), who is 27 years older than her. They later have a son T.J. Woods (Connor Lee). Viv and Bob separate, after Viv has a one-night stand with a limousine driver, but in the same year they reconcile after her affair with married Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), and they become engaged again. Bob is reunited with his former and ex-wife, American exotic dancer Vonda Lockhart (Lorelei King) and learns he has a daughter Roxy Lockhart (Chloe Procter), after Viv tracks her down to invite her to their second wedding. Bob and Viv marry in a double wedding with Viv's daughter Donna and Marlon Dingle.

Viv and Bob declare that they are going to try for a baby, however this proves difficult because of their ages and Dr. Adam Forsythe (Richard Shelton) tells them that Viv is now menopausal. This leads her to ask her daughter, Donna, to be their surrogate mother but on the day of Dawn's funeral, Viv is feeling unwell. Bob assumes she is hungover but is rushed to hospital by Donna when she collapses and learns that she is pregnant. Following Dawn's death in the King's River showhome explosion, Bob declares repeatedly that he does not want any more children so Viv decides to have an abortion but Viv tells Donna, she tells Scott and he tells Terry. Scott and Terry tell Bob about Viv's pregnancy and they decide to keep the baby. When Viv goes for a scan, they learn that she is carrying twins.