Never used kissing ghost emoji ‘stuck’ in same spot of recently used

So, a couple of months ago, I noticed a kissing ghost emoji in my recently used. Thought it odd as id never even seen this emoji let alone used it. Nor do I even use any of those types of emojis. A few days later it was still in the same position and in fact has been there ever since.

I have seen this as a thread on both here and in other places, so it appears to be an issue for many folk.

I have tried all the resets of the keyboard including deleting the emoji keyboard. When I reinstall, it’s still in the same position.i also have the ‘stickers’ switched off in keyboards.

How do I get rid of this, please??

iPhone 14 Plus

ios 18.6.2.

Automatic updates are on, but it always asks for permission.