Emmerdale fans have ‘rumbled’ what villain Tom King is set to do next to Belle Dingle - and they are horrified.
Soap favourite Belle (Eden Taylor-Droper) has been at the centre of a gripping domestic abuse storyline with her new husband Tom (James Chase) this year.
Former flames Belle and Tom rekindled their romance last year - and ended up tying the knot. However, viewers have seen the son of the villainous Carl King (Tom Lister) abuse Belle.
His reign of terror escalated when he discovered she had terminated their unborn child. Belle initially deceived Tom by claiming she had suffered a miscarriage, but he eventually found out and became enraged.
What’s more, Tom has also recently initiated his new scheme as he plans to isolate Belle by moving her away to Wales from friends and family. And spoilers for next week’s episode reveal things are only set to get worse. The soap will air a special episode starring Tom and Belle, which will be told through a series of flashbacks.
But fans of the long-running ITV soap reckon Tom has something seriously sick in store for Belle. On a Reddit thread, viewers shared their fears about a sexual assault plotline.
Referring to next week’s episode, one fan mused: “You don't have to watch it next week if you find it uncomfortable viewing as it will be distressing and I'm sure ITV will warn everyone before the episode starts. I'm telling you Tom will go to extreme lengths to keep Belle all to himself.”
Someone else replied: “Urgh. He's going to rape her, isn't he?” A third worried: “I didn't think of that but you could be right. He is probably desperate to get her pregnant again.” (sic)
Another penned: “It’s bad enough they are dragging this storyline out til the end of the year. But another Rape Storyline is too much right now.”
Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw recently confirmed when the storyline will end - with Tom actor James Chase hinting an exit is on the cards as the vile character “can’t get away” with the abuse he has inflicted on Belle.
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Discussing the length of the storyline, producer Laura Shaw told Metro: “We said right from the beginning that we wanted to tell this story as authentically and truthfully as we can.
“Let’s face it, for people who are subjected to domestic abuse this isn’t something that’s over in a couple of weeks, it’s something that goes on for a long length of time and we wanted to be truthful to that.”
She added: “I think you can expect that this storyline is going to run until the end of this year.”
What’s more, Tom actor James has noted how his time in the village could soon come to an end. He said: “He can’t get away with it.
“I don’t know to what extent that would be, or how the storyline would end but I would think it would have to be something like that because she needs justice for what’s happened to her.”
Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 and ITVX at 7.30pm
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