Emmerdale revisits Belle Dingle’s schizophrenia ordeal as teen Angelica King fears the worst

Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) did her best to help Angelica King (Rebecca Bakes) in Thursday’s (February 29) episode of Emmerdale, but recalling an ordeal that made her mentally unwell of course wasn’t easy.

Yesterday, Belle was asked by Tom (James Chase) to have a chat with Angelica about her experiences in a secure children’s home.

The young girl is being sentenced there after causing Heath’s (Sebastian Dowling) death by dangerous driving. It became apparent she wasn’t exactly thinking about the reality of her future, so Tom decided Belle could help.

Sitting down, Belle was calm and organised in her approach. She had notes of what she wanted to say, hoping it wouldn’t trigger her too much.

Belle tried her best but when Angelica asked about her ‘breakdown’, she became anxious.

Belle was sent to prison after she caused the death of Gemma Andrews (Tendai Rinomhota) after pushing her during a fight.

Her mental health suffered while she was away and on her release she started to hallucinate, believing she could see and talk to Gemma. Belle was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Belle opened up about this but the chat eventually panicked Angelica, as she started to believe she’d end up in a similar position to Belle.

Back at home, Belle tried to tell Tom that he shouldn’t have forced her into speaking with Angelica but once again, he asserted his control over her, telling his wife that just because she got upset, that doesn’t give her the ‘right’ to put the blame on him.

The development comes ahead of scenes that will highlight Tom controlling and abusing Belle through the use of technology.

Discussing this plot, Eden Taylor Draper said: ‘When we first heard from the producers the way the Tom and Belle relationship story was going to go, we were fully aware of the responsibility that would bring. But it is an important story to tell.

‘Soaps offer the viewer a glimpse of life behind closed doors and reveal what people present to the world isn’t always a truth. The sad reality is that behaviour like this in a relationship is all too prevalent.

‘I hope we do this story justice. And if people are in a situation like this they should definitely get help.’