Emmerdale’s Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) is hiding a huge secret about the stashes of cash he’s squirrelling away around Holdgate, and not only could it threaten his marriage, it could threaten his life.
Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) recently found an unusual wad of cash hidden by Billy in the house – unusual because they didn’t have any money. Billy fobbed her off by telling her they were ‘savings for a surprise’ – which she bought hook, line, and sinker. The full truth is much, much darker.
He’s still acting all shifty, but there’s a clue to what’s been going on – in between his hushed phone calls he picks up some boxing gloves just out of Dawn’s sight.
Unaware that her husband is lying to her face, Dawn gets excited as they talk about finally bringing Evan home.
Billy approaches Mack (Lawrence Robb) and asks for help to buy a cheap car, but Mack is suspicious that Billy can suddenly afford this luxury. Mack notices that Billy is also hiding an injury, and the alarm bells start ringing.
Mack comes up trumps with a lead on a suitable car, while Dawn makes it explicitly clear that Billy cannot be late to pick up Evan.
But Gabby (Rosie Bentham) finds a frustrated Dawn waiting by the side of the road as Billy has failed on his one task, and she offers her a lift. What Dawn doesn’t realise is that Billy is too busy trying to survive a nasty fight. Billy has got himself involved in unlicenced – aka illegal – boxing matches.
Mack is shocked when a bruised and bloodied Billy turns up on his doorstep. He’s in a bad way but refuses the emergency services. He implores Mack to keep schtum and says he needs the money to keep his family afloat.
Mack is between a rock and a hard place, wanting to be a good mate but not wanting his pal to die.
Thank goodness there’s a new medic in town who is also happy to work off the books – John (Oliver Farnworth) arrives to do his bit. But even if they manage to patch him up, he’ll have a lot of explaining to do to Dawn. He might have survived a fight, but how will he survive that?
‘It’s not great keeping secrets in the first place. Everyone always says that they will die for their family. But would you live for them? Would you keep healthy for them? And what Billy’s doing is risking his life and something bad does happen to him’, star Jay Kontzle explained.
‘If the injury was in any other place, like a vital organ, or a puncture in a certain part of his body, he’s gone. He’s risking his life because he thinks it’s good for his family, he’ll do anything for his family, but realistically Dawn wants him to be healthy and to be there for his family, and he’s kind of putting it all on the line.
‘If Dawn was made aware of what’s actually happening here, I think she would hit the roof. In anyone else’s eyes, apart from Billy, it would be a selfish decision, because he’s doing what he wants to do, and it’s not got the best of outcomes. You can get seriously damaged from it.’
