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The Split season 3 premiere ends with shock death twist

The Split season 3 premiere ends with shock death twist

**Warning – spoilers ahead for season 3's first episode.**

Rose (FIONA BUTTON), Nina (ANNABEL SCHOLEY) in The Split — BBC

Lauren Morris

Published: Monday, 4 April 2022 at 10:00 pm

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BBC One's The Split returned to our screens tonight (4th April) with its highly-anticipated third season and while we couldn't wait to dive head-first back into the divorce drama, we weren't expecting the show to kill off one of its major characters.

At the end of the season 3 premiere, we learn that James Cutler (Rudi Dharmalingam) – the husband of Defoe sister Rose (Fiona Button) – has been hit by a car whilst riding his bike, and the whole family rushes to the hospital.

Unfortunately, the doctor appears and delivers the terrible news that he has died, with Rose breaking down as Nina (Annabel Scholey), Hannah (Nicola Walker) and her mother Ruth (Deborah Findlay) support her.

The Split - Rudi Dharmalingam plays James — Rudi Dharmalingam's James met a tragic fate in season 3 episode 1

Over the course of the show, we watched as Rose had a slight wobble about marrying James before going through with the wedding at the end of season 1, then having a pregnancy scare and dealing with the death of her estranged father in season 2.

Season 3 began with Rose and James discussing their desire to have children, with Rose unsure about adopting after learning that the couple were incapable of conceiving by themselves.

As the two are about to head to an adoption centre, they begin arguing over Rose's reluctance to explore the adoption route and James angrily cycles off.

While Rose leaves her husband a voicemail apologising, telling him that she does want to adopt with him, he never has a chance to hear the message.

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Outside of Rose's tragic storyline, season 3 looks at Hannah and Nathan's (Stephen Mangan) divorce, which is reaching the final stages when Hannah learns that her soon-to-be ex-husband is now with somebody else.

The Split continues on BBC One on 4th April at 9pm, with seasons 1 and 2 available to stream on BBC iPlayer now. Take a look at what else is on with our TV guide.

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