Nick Miles has revealed he had a premonition that his Emmerdale character Jimmy King would die, months before producers told him about the exit storyline. The actor, 63, who played Jimmy for 22 years, died during an explosive crash that marked the end of his time in the soap.
In emotional scenes broadcast on Thursday August 27, Jimmy accidentally crashed into the wedding marquee where bad boy Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) and his pregnant fiancée Dawn Fletcher (Olivia Bromley) were due to marry. With extensive bleeding and trapped by the wreckage, he spent his dying moments with wife Nicola (Nicola Wheeler), as they shared loving moments reminiscing on their 16-year marriage together.
A strange premonition
Opting for Metro for his only one-to-one interview following his exit, Nick said he began having nightmares Jimmy would die three months before being told by producers in June he would perish during the soap's biggest week of the year.
He confided: 'I had about three months' notice that Jimmy would be leaving. But for about three months before, I was having weird nightmares about Jimmy's death. I've had typical actor dreams about not knowing my lines or being in the wrong scenes before, but I've not had nightmares about death! The one that kept recurring was being stabbed in the chest by Nicola. It was very strange.'
Despite the nightmares, he says it still initially came as a shock when he was delivered the news. 'I went quiet. It was a shock but that said, let's not forget it's the most dangerous soap on telly!' Then composing himself during the crunch meeting, he acted calmly. 'They said "Nick, we expected you to be upset as it is a shock",' recalled the actor. 'I was thinking of those nightmares though! I was like "ok, that's fine, I get it". I was very philosophical.'
Reflecting on memorable moments
Understandably proud of everything he has achieved after joining in 2004, the year his beloved football team Arsenal first won the Premier League, he laughed as he joked it's fitting he is leaving in the same year they finally became champions again.
Reflecting on his time in the soap, Nick picked out the 2006 King house collapse as a turning point that saw Jimmy turn from a ruthless businessman into a loveable comedy character; his two marriages to Sadie and Nicola, THAT affair with Charity Dingle and his many bedroom scenes as memorable moments.
He also said he feels lucky as he reveals for the first time his character was nearly axed 20 years ago. 'I took time off to go and do a play in Edinburgh (Meeting Joe Strummer). It was the time of the collapse of the Kings' house. The writers decided it would be better if Jimmy was killed. I didn't find this out until about three years later, but the producer told me that she had to jump up and down, kicking and screaming. She said: "I promised him he could come back. I'm not gonna kill him off while he's away," so that was close!'
Going on to regale a prediction made years ago by his co-star Patsy Kensit, who played his first wife Sadie, and is shortly making a big return to the soap, he added: 'I've had a good innings. When she left the first time, Patsy told me: "you'll still be here when you are old and grey". I didn't believe her then and I still find it quite hard to believe I've had 20 plus years in Emmerdale.'
Life after Emmerdale
Nick admits he doesn't share much in common with his character – except for their doggedness when it comes to women. He has been happily married to wife Stephanie for nearly 20 years but confesses it took three attempts to ask her to marry him. 'She turned me down twice! On the third time, I'd taken her to see Chicago in Edinburgh, we came out and it was pouring with rain. I lay down in front of her and wouldn't get up until she said yes! After that, we didn't hang about. I am very dogged! That's the thing Jimmy and I do have in common, he is very loyal and dogged!'
The couple are looking forward to their next chapter. 'She has only ever known me in Emmerdale. We met about eight months after I'd been in it. We can plan things now.'
He is also proud his marriage with Nicola has been a realistic one with their many arguments being played out on screen one minute only to kiss and make up the next. In fact, he said, it saved one lady running away from home. 'One in her 20s moved me to tears. She'd had these terribly argumentative parents to the point where, when she was a teenager, she thought about leaving home. But that same week, she sat down to watch Nicola and Jimmy going at it hammer and tongs and then making up by the end of the episode, and she thought maybe my parents are a bit like them. She gave it another chance and didn't run away.'
Pausing, he then smiled as he added: 'Jimmy is an oaf, but you can't help but love him! It's like a Homer Simpson thing. It was my decision to make him nice and I am glad I did. There is only room for Cain Dingle as the enforcer character. I think I would have been gone 18/19 years ago had it not happened!'
Asked what he will miss the most, Nick replied the cast and crew. Both he and Nicola shed real tears during last night's final scenes together, he added. 'We both broke down. It's the end of a long relationship that we made together. I sent her a letter telling her that I've been so lucky to have the best onscreen partner. But we will always be mates.'
So, what's next for the likeable actor? Nick, who appeared in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York before joining Emmerdale, would love to take on some more TV drama roles. He's also looking forward to spending time with his beloved wife Stephanie, who he married nearly 20 years ago. The couple live in Yorkshire.
'It's a new adventure for both of us. This role has completely changed my life; there is no doubt in that. Part of me will always be with Emmerdale.'
Emmerdale airs every weekday on ITV1 at 8pm. Episodes can also be streamed on ITVX.
