Emmerdale is set to welcome two new faces, arriving just in time to cause a major shake-up for some iconic families. The soap's boss, Laura Shaw, has revealed that two new stars are on the way, and their characters will be joining the Tate and Sugden families.
Building Up the Tate Family
Since 2024, when Joe Tate returned to the soap with his grandmother Kim after stealing a kidney from Caleb Milligan, Emmerdale has been slowly building up the Tate family. Laura admitted that while "everyone always talks about the Dingles," she wanted to "build up some of the other families" and has planned on introducing new members.
She told Inside Soap: "There's going to be a couple of arrivals to strengthen both the Tate and Sugden clans!" She added that she also wanted to remind people that Sarah is a Sugden now, having married Jacob. She mentioned that they brought back Kim's stepdaughter Dawn Taylor and Joe's legal guardian Graham Foster to strengthen the Tates. "We went a bit mad," she joked.
Future Storylines and Family Dynamics
Laura did not confirm who these arrivals would be nor how they are related to the Tates and Sugdens, but she emphasized how important it was to her to "try to build that family of Tates up at Home Farm." As part of making the Tates central, a recent storyline involved Joe Tate having an affair with Dawn Taylor. Dawn was prepared to end her marriage to be with Joe and made the sad decision to dump a heartbroken Billy Fletcher. The pair even got engaged late last year, and now Dawn is pregnant with his child.
However, Dawn then uncovered how Joe used evidence of Victoria Sugden killing John Sugden against the family, and that was not the only bombshell. Moira Dingle revealed how Joe was partly to blame for her being sent to prison after a set-up, and he let her stay behind bars knowing he could probably help free her. She did not want to believe it, but Dawn soon realized Moira was telling the truth.
After Dawn discovered what he did to Moira and Victoria, she decided she did not want to be with Joe anymore. She did not break off the engagement, though. Instead, she decided to play along, helping Moira and her husband Cain fleece him for everything he has. Her plan against Joe is thought to be exposed soon in an upcoming storyline that could leave Dawn in danger.
Fans are worried for Dawn amid this upcoming storyline, as it has been reported that the actress behind her, Olivia Bromley, has been axed from Emmerdale. The Sun reported that the character had been written out after eight years and that Olivia would be filming her final scenes this year. During her time on Emmerdale, Dawn battled drug addiction, faced prostitution, escaped a gang, and killed DI Malone.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
