Who is Joe Tate on Emmerdale and why did he leave ITV soap?
Emmerdale has revealed that Joe Tate is back after six years as he made an explosive comeback on Tuesday's Christmas Eve episode
Emmerdale viewers were in for a surprise on Tuesday’s episode as Joe Tate made an explosive comeback after six years.
On the Christmas Eve episode, which dropped on ITV X at 7am ahead of airing at 7pm, Joe returns to the Dales as it’s revealed he’s the man who has been pulling the strings behind Pete and Will Taylor’s plans to bring down Kim Tate.
Actor Ned Porteous is stepping back into Joe’s shoes, following a six-year hiatus. His comeback is anticipated to cause a stir at Home Farm and ripple through the whole village, especially since he was last spotted in 2018.
Longtime soap watchers will remember Joe and his dramatic exit but for new viewers the character’s return and history with Kim might be confusing. Here, we take a look at Joe and why he left the village back in 2018…
Ned made his first appearance in the village as Joe back in 2017 as the orphaned son of Christopher Tate and Rachel Hughes.
Twelve years after initially leaving the village, Joe returned to Emmerdale, using the alias Tom Waterhouse in 2017.
It wasn’t long until he struck up a relationship with Charity Dingle’s daughter Debbie Dingle using his fake alias Tom as part of his revenge against Charity.
Joe blamed Charity for his dad Chris’ death, who was married to Charity, after he poisoned his own drink in 2003 in order to frame her for murder following her affair with Cain Dingle.
However, Joe’s true identity was soon revealed where he evicted Debbie and her children while ending their relationship, cruelly admitting she was just collateral damage in his revenge plan against Charity.
Not long after, Joe bought back his childhood property, Home Farm, and moved in, where he made up with Debbie and got close to his half-brother Noah Dingle.
Back in 2018, Joe had an explosive exit after he was forced to go on the run after Kim, who had been married to his grandfather Frank Tate, ordered his d.e.a.t.h.
At first, it appeared that Debbie’s father Cain had accidentally killed him following a row, where one single punch saw him hitting his head on a rock. However, it was soon revealed that Joe’s right-hand man Graham Foster had actually covered up the truth that Joe was still alive.
A year later, in 2019, Kim found out that Joe was on the run after he was spotted abroad, where he was revealed to be living off money from her business and he hadn’t been seen since until Tuesday’s episode.
