EMMERDALE’S Joe Tate is hiding a dark secret after his shock return to the village.
The schemer – who is played by actor Ned Porteous in the ITV soap – arrived at Home Farm to take revenge on step-grandmother Kim Tate with a scheme with her husband Will Taylor.
However that took a turn when Will suffered a heart attack in front of a disbelieving Kim.
Continuing the recreation of her iconic scene from 1997 when she cooly watched husband Frank die of a heart attack, Kim touched up her make-up convinced Will was just having a panic attack.
But the return of Joe to Home Farm showed her that Will was having a heart attack.
She sprang into action and tried to save Will, calling for an ambulance and performing CPR on him.
Begging him to breathe again and promising they could fight when he was back but it was all for nothing.
The paramedics arrived to take over but they couldn’t save him and Dawn walked in to find them pronouncing Will dead.
Devastated Kim could barely form words until the police arrived with questions and when she couldn’t answer what happened, Joe stepped in and lied.
He claimed Will died quickly and Kim immediately jumped into action to save him.
Later while they were alone Kim demanded to know why Joe lied to cover for her.
“You stood there watching him die and did nothing,” he said as he tried to manipulate her, insisting he was on her side.
Taking advantage of Kim’s weakened state, Joe told her to keep quiet and keep everything a secret.
He left and went back to a hotel room where it was revealed he was hiding something himself.
Beginning to suffer some sort of issue, he rushed to a bag and pulled out one of many packets of medication before taking two pills quickly.
But what is Joe hiding?
Actor Ned Porteous teased: “There’s a lot of unfinished business for Joe, and it feels like the right time for him to make a comeback.
“Joe has always been a character with a dark side, but there could be something much bigger at play here.
“Joe is back for a reason, and the devastation at Home Farm is just the beginning of a much bigger story.
“It’s safe to say the audience can expect fireworks this holiday season!”
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.
Producer, Laura Shaw, added: “We are thrilled to welcome Ned back to Village as the complex and captivating Joe Tate.
“From the moment Joe arrives on screen, it’s clear there’s trouble ahead but Joe’s hiding an even darker secret that could see 2025 start off with a huge bang.”
