Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) has confirmed that Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) attacked him in Emmerdale, changing everything ahead of Dawn Taylor's (Olivia Bromley) exit. Last week, Billy was rushed to hospital after being knocked out at the depot. As doctors and nurses battled to save Billy's life after experiencing a brain bleed, DS Byrne had arrived in the village to try and work out who had attacked him.
Caleb's confession and Joe's arrest
Caleb Miligan (William Ash) was very quick to tell the detective that he should consider Joe as a suspect, because he had just found out about Billy trying to kiss his partner. Hours later, DS Byrne arrived at the hospital and arrested Joe. He was interviewed, but allowed to return home shortly after, due to the fact the police couldn't physically prove he put Billy in hospital.
The character was brought out of his coma this week, but the trauma he suffered meant it took Billy a little while to be able to communicate properly. In tonight's episode, Caleb visited Billy. He was feeling quite guilty, and then left Billy alarmed when he said that he thinks his hospitalisation is his fault. Caleb went on to confess to telling Joe about Billy's move on Dawn.
Billy's revelation
With this in mind, Billy later listened to Joe state that what happened between him and Dawn hasn't impacted their relationship. Just as the episode ended, Dawn arrived and was taken aback when Billy confirmed that Joe did attack him.
Something interesting to note is that earlier in the episode, when Caleb arrived at the hospital, Billy told him that his head is blank and he can't really remember what happened. It begs the question – is Billy totally convinced that Joe was responsible? Or did Caleb help plant a seed?
Implications for Dawn's exit
While it is widely rumoured that Olivia Bromley is leaving her role as Dawn, there are no reports that Ned is waving goodbye to Joe Tate, or that Jay is departing as Billy. It strongly indicates that Dawn's final scenes in Emmerdale will feature just her. But what will they entail?
