Emmerdale airs shock return twist for villain in ITVX release

With Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) intent on filing for divorce from abusive Tom King (James Chase) now that their marriage has hit the one-year mark, Tuesday's edition began with a surprising sighting of Tom in his prison cell.

Tom was last seen in December, when he was found guilty of assault and coercive controlling behaviour and sentenced to three years.

Visited by a chaplain, Tom claimed he was desperate to make amends with Belle.

He asked the chaplain to reach out through his legal representative and secure a visit from Belle, and the chaplain agreed to help.

Meanwhile, Belle's solicitor explained that she may face a six-month wait for her divorce to come through - but added that men like Tom would likely try to delay proceedings for as long as possible.

The solicitor explained that a visit to Tom might speed things along, but Belle was not happy about the prospect of this, knowing the controlling Tom would never make things easy for her.

Belle confided in sister-in-law Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick), who assured Belle that if she did decide to see Tom, she would now be perfectly safe as there would be prison guards there to make sure of it.

Later, Tom was thrilled when the chaplain revealed that Belle had agreed to the visit.

But as he made out he wanted a chance to atone, we weren't buying into his act.

What does evil Tom have planned for Belle?

You can access free and confidential support from Refuge’s 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 and digital support via live chat Monday-Friday 3-10pm via nationaldahelpline.org.uk.

You can read more on Clare's Law, also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, via this Gov.UK factsheet.

Read more:

• Emmerdale spoilers see Lydia Dingle drawn into traumatic April Windsor story
• 6 Emmerdale spoilers: Horror crash in icy lake amid Caleb's cold revenge
• Emmerdale 2025 preview: 12 spoilers for the year ahead
• Emmerdale teases five flashforwards as Ruby's world implodes and night out turns into disaster
• 7 Emmerdale characters who should have a big 2025 – from Kim Tate to Aaron Dingle

Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 7:30pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.

Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.