Emmerdale star Nicola Wheeler has spoken publicly for the first time about co-star Nick Miles' departure from the ITV soap, describing herself as "absolutely gutted" and revealing how "surreal" it was to film their final scene together after his character's shock death.
The pair played husband and wife Nicola and Jimmy King on the Leeds-based soap for more than a decade, until Jimmy was killed off in tragic scenes broadcast last week.
Viewers saw Jimmy driving to set up a surprise picnic for Nicola, whom he married in 2010, when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed violently through the wedding marquee of Joe Tate and Dawn Taylor.
A heartbreaking goodbye
Nicola found him and, realising her husband was stuck, sat with him as he told her he had planned for them to renew their wedding vows. A heartbreaking dream sequence then showed what could have been, before Jimmy tragically died from his injuries.
With her husband gone, Nicola managed to escape the marquee alongside a pregnant Dawn, but Joe was trapped under fallen debris. As Graham Foster rushed to save him, an explosion set off in the marquee, leaving Joe for dead. Fans now know Joe survived the horror, but Dawn has since died following the premature birth of their son.
'It never felt real'
Wheeler, who made her Emmerdale debut in 2001, said she was "absolutely gutted" when she learned about the plotline that would see the exit of her on-screen partner.
She said: "It was really surreal. It sort of ends, and you go, 'Oh gosh, that's it'. We'll never be Nick and Jimmy again together. I was gutted because I think it's the institution that Jimmy and Nicola were, where I was sort of like, 'oh God, that's over'.
"Even whilst we were filming it all, it never felt real because we film out of sync. When it came to doing all the scenes where he dies, it was odd. It's almost like you didn't want to do it. They were beautifully written scenes, so you want to do them justice but at the same time, you don't want them to end because then it means this is final."
Jimmy's funeral and a new direction
She also told how Jimmy will get "a good funeral", adding that she will miss her on-screen husband. She said: "I can't imagine the character would ever fully move on. I think there's always going to be part of her that loves him. Her heart will grow to fit another love in, but she will never let Jimmy go."
Wheeler also revealed that Kev Townsend, played by Chris Coghill, becomes a "surprising help" during her grieving process. She teased: "Something happens in which I can only say Nicola behaves appallingly, and Kev is a gentleman, and I think from that moment she starts to see him in a different light."
