ITV Emmerdale teases affair betrayal for Belle Dingle as Tom King gets close to Gabby Thomas

Emmerdale has hinted that Tom King will pursue an affair with Gabby Thomas in a bid to hurt wife Belle Dingle on the ITV soap.

The character was seen smirking as Belle was visibly upset at him for hyping up Gabby, while appearing to put her down with taunts. This is nothing new, and Tom has been cruel to Belle for months from mocking her family and her values, to trying to plant seeds of self-doubt about her life and career.

That’s not all, as Tom has been coercively controlling and manipulating Belle, while trying to control her life and isolate her from loved ones. After failing to keep Belle and her pal Vinny Dingle apart, he set about destroying their friendship.

Tom was almost found out for stalking Belle too, with him installing a tracking app on her phone and also installing a camera in the house “for their puppy”. Vinny almost found this app and so Tom attacked him and left him for dead, while he’s now acting like his friend.

Belle is unnerved by Tom’s sudden care for Vinny and knows he must be up to something, and in the latest episode he made it clear he was trying to find Vinny a girlfriend so that he stops spending time with Belle. Tom made plans with Vinny and deliberately excluded Belle, all while calling her out for leaving their dog Piper home alone.

Tom recently had security cameras set up at the home too, with Belle not aware this is to spy on her and not because of the break-in, that was actually faked by Tom. Belle seemed upset in the latest episode, as she was expected to stay home alone all day with the dog, while Tom took time off work to hang out with non-friend Vinny.

But as she tracked them down at the pub she realised Gabby had joined their “boys only” drinking session. Tom then proceeded to make Belle look bad, by suggesting that she had him on a leash and might “drag him home”.

He then continued to hype up Gabby, something he never does with Belle and instead calls her out. Belle watched him credit Gabby for being beautiful and successful and for having kids young, amid him trying to pressure Belle into starting a family.

It was clear he was trying to make Belle feel inadequate in front of “amazing” Gabby, with her clearly annoyed. Tom smiled as he saw Belle’s unimpressed reaction, clearly hoping to make her feel jealous and worthless.

But might Tom go a step further amid him constantly praising and complimenting Gabby? With him saying she’s “a knockout” and “a catch”, could Tom end up embarking on a fling with Gabby to hurt Belle?