Emmerdale viewers have given the show a lot of praise for its handling of Tom King (James Chase) and Belle Dingle’s (Eden Taylor-Draper) domestic abuse storyline – but it isn’t just viewers that are seriously impressed.
After a recent episode that focused solely on Tom and Belle’s story, Ruby Fox-Miligan actress Beth Cordingly took to Instagram to share her thoughts, revealing that she was ‘blown away’ by the episode.
Alongside some pictures from the episode itself, Beth wrote: ‘This is a very, very hard watch. BLOWN AWAY by your performance Eden. So truthful. Terrifyingly so. Well done to everyone involved in this powerful and horribly close to the bone storyline.’
Fans in the comments were quick to agree, with one saying: ‘Extremely hard to watch. Hate the character Tom, guess that means the actors involved are doing amazing. Just can’t wait for the truth to come out.’
‘Eden and James are doing an amazing job. [Tom] is horrifically menacing and chilling, and like real survivors, Belle is now in the most danger now she’s left him,’ another penned.
During the episode, Belle was finally able to escape Tom’s control, but sadly not before he violently attacked her.
When she fled the cottage with puppy Piper in tow, viewers were left relieved when a ‘hero’ bus driver managed to save her, with countless fans taking to Twitter/X to praise her quick thinking.
Tom and Belle’s getaway turned into a nightmare (Picture: ITV)
Though Belle has now left Tom and returned to Wishing Well Cottage, it seems as though this may not be where the story ends.
‘We said right from the beginning that we wanted to tell this story as authentically and truthfully as we can,’ producer Laura Shaw explained.
‘Let’s face it, for people who are subjected to domestic abuse this isn’t something that’s over in a couple of weeks, it’s something that goes on for a long length of time and we wanted to be truthful to that.
‘I think you can expect that this storyline is going to run until the end of this year.’
