Dawn Taylor’s (Olivia Bromley) young family in Emmerdale has been through its fair share of ups and downs, with baby Evan’s leukaemia diagnosis, custody battles over Lucas, and Clemmie coming to the family after her mum died of an overdose.
The last thing any of them could cope with is something now happening to Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle).
Perhaps Billy should have thought of that sooner as his quest to provide for his family looks set to result in his untimely death.
Things are unravelling fast for the dad, who just wants to put food on the table. He has got himself involved in an illegal boxing ring, and he can’t stop because their money troubles are so bad that Dawn even begged her dad for £5,000.
He’s kept his new job a secret from Dawn, but she is starting to become suspicious of his lies that are as thin as his wallet. He has been coming home covered in injuries with wads of cash, something doesn’t add up.
‘I think subconsciously it is massively difficult for Billy to hold this back and not say anything, because realistically how long can it go on for? He’s obviously going to get injured at some point and it’s going to be visible’, Jay Kontzle told us.
‘How long are you going to hold off these injuries before she’s going to clue in to what’s actually happening? There’s only so many times that you can say it’s a boxercise injury before it starts looking quite serious. It is really difficult and obviously it’s a profession that’s a risk to life as well.
‘All the stuff that’s going on with their children, especially with Evan, it’s not something that Dawn’s going to want to deal with, especially when it’s something that’s in Billy’s control and it’s his decision. He is concerned, but at the moment it’s not just a financial thing, it’s more for him to free up his mind and make himself feel better.
Billy is deep into this underworld of fighting, and he knows it’s bad otherwise he wouldn’t tell fibs, but he doesn’t realise just how deep in he is.
His friends have an idea though, and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) pushes Mack Boyd (Lawrence Robb) to get Billy to stop before it’s too late.
Mack does his best, but the truth is, it’s already too late. Billy needs the money, but he also doesn’t understand that he no longer has a choice about taking part.
Jade, his promoter, or manager, whoever she is, is relentless in harassing him and forcing fights on him. After his chat with Mack, Billy attempts to back out of a gig, but he is given a cold hard reality slap from Jade that backing out is not an option. She owns him.
Mack is shocked to see Billy being led to a car by Jade. Mack tries to stop him heading to the fight, but Billy reveals he needs the money, oh and has no choice.
A panicked Mack convinces Aaron to go with him to the fight to save their friend, but there’s little they can do.
At the Warehouse, Jade reveals the new rules of this illegal fight – it will be more dangerous and vicious than Billy could have ever imagined. Now he realises the full extent of how deep he’s in, and there’s no way out. The fight is set to be the most brutal Billy has ever been a part of.
Will Aaron and Mack be there to watch their friend get pulverised into bloody pulp?
‘Due to the fact that Aaron’s got a background in unlicensed boxing himself, he understands what’s in store for him’, Jay added.
‘And given that they’ve had fights between each other, he probably thinks that Billy’s not up for the fight at all. I think he’s concerned, but I think at the same time he knows that there’s still a bit of friction between the two of them and he’s like, “You’re an idiot for doing these.” I think there’s been mistakes from Mack and even Dawn, kind of building up Billy’s confidence, pushing him a little bit too far in going, “I believe in you2 and not realising what he’s got in store. It’s kind of out of his comfort zone. It’s a new venue, it’s a new place.’
Reflecting on the year Billy has had, Jay explained: ‘I’m quite similar, in a way. I feel like when you’ve got no one to talk to – because Dawn’s got her dad, even though they’ve fallen out, she’s got her dad, she’s kind of got Kim. If there’s stuff she needed to talk about she’s got family members there she can confide in. Billy hasn’t got anyone and he needs some sort of release. He needs to release emotions and this is that release for Billy. All the stuff that’s gone on with Evan, it’s still mentally breaking him down.
‘He’s not in control of anything and as a dad you want to be able to control your child’s life and make sure they’re fit and healthy, make sure they’re feeling good, they’re not crying, you can always comfort them.
‘The fact that that’s taken out of his control, subconsciously he’s always got something going on in his head and he hasn’t got anyone to talk to. He can’t talk about the fact that him and Dawn will be having disputes and arguments every now and then is just due to the fact that this dynamic is all over the place. So his release will be this sport. It’s a contact sport, he can release a lot of stress. Even taking damage it’s kind of internal as well, so it’s really helping him.
‘As well as helping him on the emotional stage it’s also helping him on the financial stage because it’s a real struggle, they’re kind of in deep waters at this point and trying to stay afloat. This is, in his head, the best kind of outcome.’
