Emmerdale's Nicola King will not recover from the devastating death of her husband Jimmy, actress Nicola Wheeler has revealed. The star teased heartbreaking scenes ahead on the ITV soap this autumn and beyond, as Nicola faces Jimmy's funeral and struggles to move past his passing.
With Nicola now aware of who caused the crash that killed Jimmy, she is dealing with the fallout while also facing the funeral. Amid drama surrounding his possible double life with his ex Sadie King, which Nicola has yet to learn is not true, her grief is set to last for months.
No quick fix for Nicola's grief
Speaking about her character's future, Nicola Wheeler said there is "no quick fix" for Nicola's grief. She explained: "We will see that, she doesn't recover at all, you know. She still struggles with his death for months to come. It's not a quick fix, she doesn't suddenly go, 'All right, moving on,' you know? He's there, he's part of her life all the time."
The actress added: "She can't even see beyond Jimmy. I think her future is that Jimmy was and is still the love of her life, and therefore that will always be. Although there'll be some comfort in that, it's also quite a lonely place to be."
Nicola Wheeler noted that her character is fortunate to have Laurel, who has experienced a similar loss. "But I think where Nicola's really, really lucky is she has Laurel, who has been through what she's been through. And so she's got a great friend to take her on the journey of grief," she said.
Sadie and Robert could be exposed
The actress also discussed how Nicola might react when she discovers that Sadie and Robert Sugden have been trying to get Jimmy's money. She said: "She probably wouldn't be surprised at Robert! But I think she would feel utterly betrayed by Sadie, because up to this point, Sadie's only ever shown friendship and kindness, and also a mutual sort of annoyance at Jimmy and what Jimmy has done. Although she's slightly more forgiving than Nicola is, but she'd be fuming."
Next week, a race begins to find Jimmy's money after the realisation of where he may have hidden it. Robert and Sadie, along with Nicola and her father Rodney Blackstock, head to the location in pairs. Robert and Sadie are forced to hide when they see Nicola, but it remains to be seen who, if any of them, finds the money.
Emotional turn at the funeral
Things take an emotional turn at the funeral when Nicola speaks to the attendees. Nicola Wheeler teased: "I guess she's caught between a rock and a hard place because she has to be respectful to Jimmy and she has to show that she cares for the sake of the children. But it's possibly the worst day of her life."
She continued: "Charles [Anderson] is trying to encourage Nicola to write something kind, but she ends up sort of writing something quite impersonal and doesn't want to speak. So she's already made that decision that she's not going to talk at the funeral, and she's going to spend her time making sure the kids are all right."
"But I think it's the point where she feels utterly betrayed, because it's the one time where she would want to sing her praises about her husband and how much she loved him, and just the great man he was, and she just feels like she can't," she added.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
