EMMERDALE fans have been left shaken after a major character announced their exit from the village in dramatic scenes.
The Dingle family revealed a multitude of secrets that they were each hiding during a special week of episodes last week.
One of the main ones was Sam Dingle revealing to wife Lydia that he had attacked her rapist – Craig Reed – despite her telling him not to.
Craig was later found dead in a field at Home Farm, and Sam feared he had caused his death after beating him.
However, his half-brother Cain Dingle knew that Craig was really killed by Kim Tate’s horse, Ice.
Tonight, Sam was questioned by police, but wife Lydia was nowhere to be found to support her husband or back up his alibi.
Later in the episode, Sam returned home and told Cain and Mandy how the cops had received forensic evidence showing Craig had died after taking a blow to the head from a horse, leaving him in the clear.
When Lydia finally returned home, Sam relayed the good news to her too, but he didn’t get the response he was hoping for.
Sam said: “It wasn’t my fault, Craig dying, it’s supposed to be a good thing, coppers letting me go.”
Lydia replied: “He still died, you still did what you did, you can’t just undo that.”
Sam pleaded with his wife to let him make things right, but Lydia made it clear that what he had done had “dragged me back there to what he did.”
She added: “How am I supposed to heal when you did that?”
An emotional Sam said: “I love you so much Lydia, how can I make this better?”
But she swiftly stood up and said: “You can’t, not just like that.”
She then declared: “I can’t be with you Sam, not like this. I need to pack, I need to get away from all of this and I need some space…I’m sorry.”
Emmerdale viewers were taken aback by Lydia’s decision to take time away from her husband and the village.
Taking to X – formerly Twitter – one wrote: “Oh Lydia I feel for you!”
Another added: “Lydia you need to be there for poor Sam!”
A third tweeted: “Lydia is getting on my nerves. Sam is innocent.”
Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.
