Emmerdale fans believe they have worked out what will happen to Nicola King after a harrowing death scene aired on the ITV soap. The café owner, played by Nicola Wheeler since 2001, was recently dealt heartbreak when her husband Jimmy (Nick Miles) died in a car crash.
In recent times, Jimmy and Nicola had been looking to the future and had even planned to renew their wedding vows. Jimmy had not disclosed his financial troubles to Nicola, but tragedy struck when he crashed into the wedding marquee where Joe Tate and Dawn Taylor were having a heart-to-heart. No explanation was given for the fatal crash, and Nicola could now go either way in her behaviour amid the grief.
Fans share their predictions
One comment on Reddit read: "Nicola was fantastic. I know she's a bit of a marmite character and I even saw someone say she should have been killed off instead of Jimmy, but I don't see her going anywhere for a while. Yes, she can be extremely annoying and frustrating, she's not perfect but the character does have her moments. And the actress is one of the most solid in the show."
Another said: "I kind of think she works because she's 'Marmite'. She's one of the few with depth to me; one of those you love to hate when she's being a prat, and love to support when she's being kind. She's capable of both being an antagonist or a protagonist, but never really crosses over into hero or villain. There's a few versatile and complex characters like that, like Eric or Kim, and I think she pulls it off well. I'm concerned a lot of characters just become 'nice' or 'evil' lately, and it's stripped away any nuance or ability to emotionally invest. Even poor Jimmy was reduced to just 'nice'. We need more folks like Nicola."
Behind the scenes reaction
Just hours after the tragic scenes aired, in a video on Emmerdale's official Instagram, the actress asked her co-star why his character had to go, and simply reasoned: "Everybody I know who read that script, the first thing they said was that it made me cry."
Nicola was with Jimmy in his final moments, telling him she loved him and holding his hand, as he imagined their vow renewal. With Jimmy gone, Nicola wept before fleeing the marquee just as it exploded. Moments before, everything played out as Nicola raced into the marquee to find her husband in a bad way and suggested he might not make it out. In heart-wrenching scenes, Jimmy shared his love for his wife, but sadly he succumbed to his injuries and died in the car. Moments later, the marquee looked as though it was about to be engulfed in flames.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
