A lavish wedding is on the horizon in Emmerdale – though it’s guaranteed not to be a happy occasion for Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).
He has no idea that wife-to-be Dawn Fletcher (Olivia Bromley) is secretly planning to leave the country with his unborn baby, ex-husband Billy (Jay Kontzle) and their children.
The scheme has been masterminded by Caleb Miligan (William Ash), who, alongside spouse Ruby (Beth Cordingly), are seeking revenge on Joe for years of falling victim to his misdemeanours.
When Billy was attacked at Caleb’s depot, he erased the CCTV and pinned the blame on Joe. The assault came just hours after he learnt that Dawn and Billy had kissed, making him the perfect scapegoat.
However, it later transpired that Kev Barton (Chris Coghill) was the real culprit, and he drunkenly spilled this information to Billy earlier in the week. Ultimately, this left him conflicted about leaving, wondering whether Joe actually was a good man – although misunderstood.
He chose not to divulge this information to Dawn, preparing still to leave the country. Caleb laid down the law and said he wasn’t willing to let them go just yet, and that he’d hand over the passports on the day of the wedding.
In today’s episode, Dawn overheard Kev expressing his gratitude to Billy for not dobbing him in to the police. She only heard one half of the conversation, giving Billy an opportunity to quickly lie and say that Kev was thanking him for setting up a PT plan.
Once alone, she told Billy that she was heading home to collect the last of their belongings and instructed him to speak to Caleb and get the passports.
In her bedroom at Home Farm, she threw some clothes into the suitcase and was disturbed by Joe. He knocked on the door and asked if she was ok, and she pretended that she was trying on her wedding dress for the final time.
Dawn then walked downstairs and took a call from Billy, who said he’d been put on a last minute job to Oldham and was trapped in the middle of an accident on the motorway. The reality was that Caleb had refused to hand over the documents, and he was making the call from The Mill.
With little option but to crack on with the wedding prep, Dawn went down to the field with Joe to watch the marquees being constructed. He proudly proclaimed that tomorrow would be the “happiest day of his life.”
At The Mill, Caleb told Ruby that it was about to be the “worst day of [Joe’s] life.”
Dawn watched her fiancé walking away, as a rumble of thunder sounded over Emmerdale village.
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Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.
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