ITV Emmerdale’s Eden Taylor-Draper ‘sad’ as she confirms villager’s exit
Eden Taylor-Draper - who plays Belle Dingle on Emmerdale - has admitted she is feeling 'sad' after confirming her co-star's exit and revealing more about her own character's future on the soap
Eden Taylor-Draper has admitted she is feeling “sad” about her Emmerdale co-star’s impending exit.
James Chase – who plays Tom King on the ITV soap – will be departing his role in big scenes, as Belle finally faces him in court to detail the harrowing abuse she has experienced whilst in a relationship with him.
Eden appeared on Loose Women on Thursday, where she explained how gutted she was for James to be leaving. She said: “When he joined, it was always the plan that we were going to tell this story and there would be an end point.”
Insisting they’d remain good friends, she added: “He is leaving, which is sad, but I’m sure I’ll see him outside of work.”
Eden has also revealed what is in store for her own character in the future, and she is hopeful Belle might find some happiness. She said: “I do not know – I would love to think so. I think she’s got a lot of healing to do and just getting back to herself.
“She stopped working because of Tom, she didn’t really leave the house. She cut her family off. And so I think rebuilding those connections and I think getting back to the things she loves will be lovely to see. But also it’s a soap, so I have no idea!”
Eden previously confessed it would be “bizarre” not to see her co-star.
She said: “I feel like in the past year, I’ve seen James more than anyone in my life. So it will be bizarre not to work together. This year feels like it has been me and him throughout the entire thing. So, it will feel bizarre. But because we knew the story, at some point, was going to round off, we knew it was coming. It will be odd to come into work and not see him.”
The actress, who has been on the show for several years, has praised the “incredible” reaction to the storyline.
“It is amazing and incredible. Hearing from people that the storyline has helped them. I’ve just heard so much great feedback. We all have. And, to think that’s our work, we get to help people. That’s amazing,” she explained.
*Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. Loose Women is on ITV1 weekdays at 12.30pm