ITV Emmerdale fans ‘work out’ Moira Dingle’s mystery illness – and it’s terminal

Emmerdale seems to have dropped a bombshell about Moira Dingle’s health, and it’s a real tearjerker.

Soap icon Natalie J. Robb, who brings Moira to life, has had fans fretting lately, especially after the drama with her son Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano). Matty ended up behind bars after a run-in with Samson Dingle and his transphobic friend Josh, and was only released from prison after Samson finally told the truth.

But now, it’s Moira’s antics that are causing a stir among the audience, what with her sudden fits of rage. In a fight with Cain, she hurled a glass across the kitchen and shattered it – nearly catching her husband.

Then, a couple of days on, she harshly told Matty to “man up” post-prison, leading to some serious tension brewing between them. And in Thursday’s trip to the village (August 8), alarm bells rang for Matty when he found his mum asleep in broad daylight. Moira was just as baffled by her own doziness and her vanishing hunger.

To top it off, later she grabbed a glass and a bottle of whisky and toddled off to bed with them, hinting that Moira might be tumbling back into the booze after kicking her addiction three years back.

Moira’s behaviour had suddenly changed

During Friday’s gripping episode, Emmerdale fans were left seriously worried about Moira as her strange behaviour raised the alarm again. She kicked off the day stressed and snappy while rummaging around for vital documents she needed for an auction, leaving Cain baffled when he tried to lend a hand only for her to bite his head off and storm off in a huff.

But things took a weird turn when Moira came back home all smiles, flipping from frazzled to flirty with Cain, leaving him confused after her earlier outburst.

Now, fans on one Emmerdale fan page are fearing that Moira might be showing signs of dementia in what would be a devastating plot twist. One worried fan speculated: “I think Moira has Early onset dementia.”

Moira’s behaviour has concerned fans (Image: ITV)

Another echoed similar concerns: “That’s what I thought especially when she had to think and remember things she has said and done!” A third suggested: “Could Moira have early onset dementia or a brain tumour with her forgetting things.”

Yet another voiced their fears, saying: “Think it’s something serious like dementia.”

This wouldn’t be the first time the soap has tackled the heartbreaking issue of dementia; viewers were moved by Ashley Thomas’s (John Middleton) battle beginning in 2015. Ashley, married to Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy), tragically passed away in 2017 in a poignant episode.