WILL Taylor’s anonymous blackmailer is set to up the ante in upcoming Emmerdale scenes.
The character – played by Dean Andrews – is left panicking when his blackmail horror takes a new direction.
In scenes yet to air, the blackmailer ups the stakes to £50,000.
This follows last week, where he missed the drop as he got pulled away to go and help up at the barn fire.
Will surprises Caleb by asking for a loan in return for his shares in the haulage business.
Having secured Caleb’s loan, Will’s chipper as he makes big promises to Kim.
This good mood soon evaporates, however, when the blackmailer messages demanding payment.
The next day, once Will has £40,000 from Caleb, he texts his blackmailer to let them know he has the cash.
Afterwards, he finds Jimmy and confesses to the deal with Caleb – much to Jimmy’s fury.
However, things turn from bad to worse as Will arrives back at Home Farm for lunch to find Kim missing.
He’s further disturbed when he receives a call from his blackmailer telling him they’ve abducted her.
Following his blackmailer’s instructions, Will arrives in a woodland area, eager to save his wife.
However, he is perplexed when he finds a mannequin dressed like Kim, goading him further into the woods.
It comes as Emmerdale viewers have shared their certainty as to who the blackmailer is.
Taking to Reddit, one person wrote: “I think it’s Kim who’s blackmailing will 100%.”
Another added: “Yeah. Pretty obvious. The finance guy she is meeting with is to help her get out of the marriage without giving Will a penny.”
First appearing in 1989, Kim Tate (Claire King) is an iconic Emmerdale character. Here's a look at some of her biggest storylines over the years.
MARRIAGE TO FRANK TATE
Kim has been married three times in the soap, but her first, volatile pairing was with Frank Tate (Norman Bowler)
They were an on-screen partnership for almost a decade – including divorcing and remarrying.
However, Frank ultimately suffered a fatal heart attack, brought on by Kim’s return to the village after being presumed dead.
During the marriage, Kim had affairs with Neil Kincaid (Brian Deacon) and Dave Glover (Ian Kelsey).
FAKING HER OWN DEATH
Kim disappeared from the village in February 1997. A few days later, Frank identified a woman found dead at the wheel of her car as Kim.
However, everyone was in for a shock after Kim revealed she was still alive – and the full extent of her plan.
While she’d fled to the Caribbean, Kim had paid a lookalike prostitute to drive her car around the village to fool people into thinking she was still there. It was, in fact, her body that Frank previously identified.
JAMES’ KIDNAPPING
Kim’s business partnership with Lord Alex Oakwell (Rupam Maxwell), resulted in the death of Linda Fowler (Tonicha Jeronimo), in a car crash.
As an act of revenge, Linda’s mother Jan (Roberta Kerr) kidnapped Kim’s son James.
DEPARTURE
After a decade of causing chaos, Kim left Emmerdale in 1999 as she fled in a helicopter with her son James and £190,000 of Chris Tate’s money.
LATER MARRIAGES
Upon Kim’s return in 2018, she was first revealed to be married to Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough).
However, he was later killed off in a whodunnit storyline.
She later pursued a relationship with her employee Will Taylor (Dean Andrews), marrying him in 2022.
While a third remarked: “Definitely…. I’ll be surprised if it isn’t Kim.
“She’s got him by the short and curlys which she keeps asking him has he anything to tell her. Good luck Will!”
A fourth penned: “Yeah they’ve not been very subtle about it.”
Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available to watch on ITVX.