Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Draper confirms the Dingles will be ripped apart by shock Tom King twist

Belle is facing another nightmare at the hands of Tom King (Picture: ITV) It’s the demonic face of evil that Emmerdale fans never wanted to see again – so spare a thought for Belle Dingle as she is forced to confront her abusive ex Tom King (James Chase) with his prison release imminent. Eden Taylor-Draper admits that she didn’t expect the story to be revisited (‘I don’t know why; I just thought that was that’), but is delighted to have the chance to tell a new chapter of the harrowing tale. But it’s not just Belle who will be directly haunted by the grim specter of her past, the entire Dingle family will be thrown into absolute chaos when two sides of the clan do battle over rights and wrongs, secrets and betrayals and everything else soapy you could come to expect from TV’s most chaotic broods. Seeing how Tom being pushed back into the forefront of her mind is impacting Belle, Cain (Jeff Hordley) takes action and has him beaten to within an inch of his life in hospital. This is not how Belle would ever want things handled and understandably has a right pop at her uncle. But the true situation is much worse – the attacker ordered by Cain to carry out the revenge is none other than Samson. Due for release very soon, it’s likely that this incident will massively push back Samson’s day of liberation, something which leaves a disgusted Sam (James Hooton) apocalyptic with rage at Cain. With Samson’s release scuppered, Sam goes for Cain (Picture: ITV) To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video I sat down for a chat with the always generous Eden, who, as ever, was delighted to give up her time to chat all things Emmerdale with Metro. Easily one of the show’s biggest supporters, Eden admits her fears that this storyline could be it for the Dingles. ‘She reacts pretty terribly when she finds out that Cain has orchestrated it. She’s just gutted and she can’t believe that the head of the family, in her eyes, has done this to her,’ she sighs. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. ‘She’s stressed that Tom is in such a bad way and she feels horrific about that, and the fact that her brother has caused it is making it ten times worse because he’s put her in a much more vulnerable position than she was in pre that attack. ‘It kind of slashes them down the middle because Moira and Lydia are butting heads, because Matty is Moira’s son and there’s all of that with Samson. Sam and Cain are blown apart and Belle is so angry yet trying to keep them together. ‘She doesn’t want Tom to come between them any more than he has in the past. So, she’s trying to build bridges, but she’s still furious at Cain. It’s a horrible environment at the Dingles’’. Given the Dingles have a creaking awards cabinet packed with Best Family trophies, it would be a travesty if this caused a permanent rift in the clan. Eden herself is torn – while the story is a big one to get her teeth into, might it mean less screentime with some of her family members? Belle is devastated that Tom might rip apart her family (Picture: ITV) Eden has always talked with passion about the storyline when interviewed by Metro (Picture: ITV) ‘I would be excited, but I also think I’d be crying my eyes out because it would be like my real family is fighting! There’s the prospect during the story where Cain basically tells Belle it’s up to her whether Sam moves out, and even doing that was just so gross because we are like a family. ‘It’s really fun to play it and know that it’s pretend, but you can’t help but be emotional because it’s the Dingles and you think they can get through anything, but actually what both Cain and Sam have done is so horrific and it is so bad that we do play those scenes where you feel like it could be the end. It could be a massive split for a very long time within the family.’ The beginning of the conflict comes as Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin), a natural fan of forgiveness, gets into contact with Tom, and, with the clearly lying narcissist claiming he has found religion and wants to be a better person, Charles gives off cautious indications that he is a changed man and should be given a chance. Eden explains: ‘Belle really takes out her anger of the situation on Charles because she just can’t believe what she’s hearing. But Charles wasn’t a part of that before and Tom is claiming to have found God and repented and all of these things, so she feels like she’s talking to a brick wall when it comes to Charles. I don’t think she believes he has changed before she does go and see him. Tom and Belle’s story ran for nearly two years (Picture: ITV) Eden is thrilled to be revisiting the story – though hadn’t expected it to happen (Picture: PA) ‘It’s hard because Charles is also struggling. He doesn’t fully know if he believes him. He is trying to do his job, but of course he cares about Belle and what she went through, but he’s also trying to be a man of God and listen to Tom, who is seeking forgiveness. Charles is in a really difficult situation and Belle doesn’t see or understand that. She can only see it from her point of view.’ Which, of course, is completely understandable. Over the space of years, we saw Tom hack away at Belle’s confidence, isolate her from her friends and family, gaslight her, and subject her to violent attacks. ‘To have the abuser released and getting to showcase that and all the different feelings and emotions, I was very excited to get going with the story,’ Eden reflects. ‘I can only imagine that, after the relief of him being sent down, this is probably the worst thing imaginable. She knew it was going to happen at some point, but obviously he’d been on good behaviour, so it’s happening a lot quicker than expected. ‘I think it’s good that we’re revisiting it. People do get let out on good behaviour, that’s one thing, but also Belle, as much as she believes she’s healed, it reopens all those wounds and we explore how she feels about that and how it affects her relationship with Kammy, and her talking to the victim liaison officer. ‘We didn’t speed up the storyline back then. It did play across about 18 months, and so the fact we’re coming back to visit it in real time, like it would be happening, is really good as well.’ Eden was delighted to see James again, admitting that they were ‘giddy’ to be working together again. Could this situation destroy Belle and Kammy? (Picture: ITV) And one other connection viewers like is the chemistry between Eden and co-star Shebz Miah as Belle enters into a slow and steady relationship with Kammy. But Eden warns that the Tom situation is enough to throw Belle so much into turmoil that she could push Kammy away. ‘Kammy wasn’t there when Belle was going through this, and Belle hasn’t told him the full extent of what she suffered through that relationship, so I don’t think Kammy gets the extent of it. He’s trying to support her as best as he can, but it’s his first time navigating this as well. ‘They obviously love each other and want to make it work and be a team, but there’s moments where they don’t quite know each other and how he should support her, and she needs space and then she wants him close. It’s just such a mixture. They’re both trying to do the best they can with the situation.’ The upshot of it all? Well there has to be SOMETHING to look forward to. And that comes in the form of Minnie the dog, aka everyone’s favourite TV pooch Piper. Yes, she’s back and Eden can’t hide her grin as she confirms that we will be seeing the loveable – and award winning – BFF of Belle’s again. The myth, the legend – yes, Piper is back! (Picture: ITV) ‘I’ve been working with her a lot recently!’ Every cloud, and all that. It’s evident that Eden is as passionate as ever about Belle, even after spending pretty much all of her life in the Dales. But she is full of nothing but praise for all of her fellow cast members, assuring me that rather than seeing herself as a mentor, she tends to learn just as much from the incoming, and very talented, young actors. That said, while it’s very on brand for Eden to be so humble, one can’t help but hope she can take a tad more credit for herself too given her phenomenal performance during the stages of the plotline so far. As it enters its next phase, it promises to be as engaging as ever – let’s just hope Tom isn’t capable of the unthinkable; destroying the Dingles for good. In time, we all must root for the clan to unite and exorcise the devil from their midst… Deals of the Day QVC shoppers can save £159 on Elemis' biggest beauty gift set of the year This Hoover vacuum is a game-changer for pet owners and muddy homes The wellbeing brand behind everyone's favourite candles has launched its biggest sale yet See London's Christmas lights from an open-top double-decker bus this winter My skin always suffers when the heating goes on but this serum changed that Arrow MORE: Emmerdale’s Tom left to die in violent attack – by surprise character from the past Arrow MORE: Belle ‘oversteps’ in Emmerdale as she uncovers frightening ‘campaign of abuse’ Arrow MORE: New Emmerdale spoiler videos reveal a big victory for Robert Sugden The Soaps Newsletter – Weekly Sign up for exclusive spoilers and interviews, handpicked by our Soaps Editor.