Emmerdale exposes Ella Forster's dark secret as horrific past crime

Colleague Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) spotted Ella at a care home, visiting a woman called June Phillips, who had dementia.

When June died, Manpreet concluded that she was Ella's mother, and as Ella grieved, she failed to correct her - but at the care home, Ella was most certainly not addressed as a member of June's family.

As the day of June's funeral dawned, Manpreet was sympathetic and supportive of Ella, and the doctor's own grief for stepson Ethan Anderson (Emile John) led her to tell Liam about Ella's situation.

As Liam raced to the funeral, his ex-wife Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) continued to dig into Ella's life, convinced there was more to her lack of online presence.

Meanwhile, Ella stood at the empty graveside ahead of June's burial, crying that she was sorry, didn't want to hurt anyone else, and hoping that both June and another mysterious person could now find peace.

As she stayed in the shadows to watch the burial, Ella was horrified when Liam joined the mourners, and she secretly willed him to leave. But when June's nephew approached Liam, the truth spilled out.

When Liam explained that he was the partner of June's daughter, the man, Gary (Simon Naylor), accused him of being press or making a sick joke - because June's daughter was dead.

In the village, Leyla looked at an old photo of Ella, whose real name was Ruth, and connected the dots - just as Ella jumped in to defend Liam at the graveside.

Gary soon realised who he had come face-to-face with, and insisted that Ella should be the one in the ground instead.

"You're a murderer. Child killer!" shouted Gary.

As Ella walked away in shame, Liam's gaze dropped to a nearby gravestone which bore the name Joanne Phillips, who died in 2005. Is this who Ella murdered? What exactly happened between Ella and Joanne almost 20 years ago?

Emmerdale returns on Friday 31st May at the earlier time of 7pm on ITV, with a standout performance from star Lane as Ella's story continues.

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Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.

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