Emmerdale actor Nick Miles has revealed that his character Jimmy King's death came as a surprise to him, as he opened up about his exit from the ITV soap. The 63-year-old, who portrayed the fan favourite for more than two decades, was speaking on the red carpet at the National Television Awards in London on Tuesday, September 8, where Emmerdale won best serial drama.
A shock exit after 22 years
Jimmy died after crashing his car into the wedding marquee at Joe and Dawn's ceremony, in explosive scenes that also saw Dawn die. The tragic crash brought a close to a busy summer in the fictional Yorkshire village, leaving viewers heartbroken at the loss of two beloved characters.
Speaking to the Liverpool ECHO, Nick said: "It was quite momentous. I've been on Emmerdale for 22 and a half years and the death was a surprise to me, and they really wanted to keep it a surprise to everybody else."
He added: "The funny thing about it was I think someone did get hold of it and no one really believed it was true so it was just dismissed. Everybody is still in denial I think up to a certain point."
An emotional goodbye
Nick spoke about his own personal grief, admitting he has not yet processed saying goodbye to the character he has played since joining the soap in 2004. He told the ECHO: "I still haven't managed to say goodbye yet. I'm still having very vivid dreams about Jimmy and I keep getting told off by my screen wife about not learning my lines, even though I've not got any lines to learn anymore. It's very odd I'm going to be honest it's not been easy, it's been quite strange but I'm excited for the future."
During his final scenes, viewers were moved to tears as Jimmy and Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) said their goodbyes. Nick said: "I cried when I read it, we cried when we shot it. It was very hard, I cried when I watched it. But what was lovely is that everybody involved in it really cared. They wanted to give Jimmy the best send off possible. The work was really good and I was really happy with it."
Sadie King's return
Jimmy's exit coincided with the return of Sadie King, played by Patsy Kensit, who has already caused havoc in the village after claiming to have had an affair with Jimmy in the lead up to his death. Speaking about working with Patsy, Nick said: "We had a big hug in the make-up room. She was such an important part of Jimmy's entry into Emmerdale, it was so lovely to see her at the end. It made sense to me and to her a little bit, she is so lovely."
Teasing what fans can expect from Sadie King's return, he said: "All I would say is, don't believe a word that woman says. If you really love Jimmy King, why are you listening to Sadie?"
Emmerdale took home the top prize for best serial drama at the National Television Awards, while actor Jeff Hordley also won best serial drama performance for his role as Cain Dingle.
