Emmerdale Spoilers – Tom’s dark side returns on his and Belle’s wedding day

Next week on Emmerdale, as the big day dawns for Tom and Belle, will the return of the groom’s dark side make Belle regret her decision?

The run up to the wedding hasn’t been without its hiccups, with even the first proposal having culminated in a shocking turn of events.

When Tom (James Chase) asked Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) to marry him back in October, only 5 months after his return to village, Belle turned her childhood sweetheart down. Lashing out in frustration, Tom pushed Belle away from him, and in doing so caused her to fall and hit her head.

Though shaken, Belle believed that Tom didn’t mean for it to happen, and the two agreed to forget about the incident.

Belle then later realised that she did want to marry Tom after all. After her first attempt to pop the question on Christmas Day was thwarted by her family throwing a surprise birthday party, she was able to pull off an even better proposal by enlisting the help of Torvill & Dean.

The lead up to next week’s wedding sees Tom displaying some further unsettling behaviour however. Tom has already been seen having to hold his tongue when Mandy (Lisa Riley) derailed the couple’s ‘sten do’ plans, in order to throw Belle a proper female-only hen’s party, and he ended up sulking and drowning his sorrows with Suni (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana).

“I think Belle is just so in love, and of course on paper Tom is such a dream man and her whole family love him too,” Eden Taylor-Draper tells us. “I mean he’s a vet, he is great, he’s charismatic and they do in the main have such a lovely relationship. Of course there have been a few things that we have seen. We have witnessed his controlling behaviour but I think Belle herself is just turning a blind eye to all that at the moment under the assumption he’s just doing it all out of love.”

Another stumbling block comes up when Tom suddenly realises that Belle intends to keep her surname as Dingle, rather than become Mrs King.

“I think she’s so passionate to keep her name, as she is Dingle and proud to be so,” Eden explains. “The Dingle name means a lot to her. And I think especially with her mum not being there. I think that absence and their name is such a symbol for Belle. Tom doesn’t have his parents any more and he wants to continue the King family line. So I think it is a combination of that.”

Belle gives her explanation and Tom appears to accept it, but she can see that it’s weighing heavy on Tom’s mind. Wanting to make her fiancé happy, Belle eventually agreed to become Belle King.

“He is not really pressuring her but he explains the reasons why he wants to continue the King name,” Eden continues. “He said she had just assumed she could stay a Dingle. And also if they do have children Belle would want them to all have the same surname. So she realises it is time to focus on her brand new family and not the Dingles anymore.”

“I think he is just quite traditional in that way and wants to carry on the King name,” adds James Chase. “It is probably another way of asserting himself by saying ‘you are a King now’. A chance to distance her from her family.”

Distance from the Dingles seems to be exactly what Tom is craving, but it’s a lack of a particular two that causes Belle more upset in the final days leading up to the wedding. Whilst Belle’s mum Lisa (Jane Cox) passed away in November 2020, she’s distraught when she receives a call from dad Zak (Steve Halliwell).

“Zak is in Scotland with Debbie and has hurt his back so can’t travel,” Eden reveals. “Belle finds this out pretty last minute, that Zak is definitely not going to be there. And has a freak out and says let us call the wedding off.”

Tom is annoyed, reminding Belle that neither of his late parents are going to be there either, and whilst she has a huge extended family to look out for her, he only has his uncle Jimmy (Nick Miles). Tom storms off in a mood and Belle is left to think things over.

“Obviously Zak’s attendance means so much to her,” Eden continues. “But then Tom explains that his parents aren’t there either so he says let us focus on us – this is about our day and how they are all there in spirit. So in the end she is fine with it but obviously it is a huge deal for her.”

“I think Tom a little bit jealous,” James tells us as he talks about Tom’s attitude. “At one point he was actually fairly open about it, although it was during an argument but he literally made a point of saying ‘you have got such a big close family, you should be happy with what you have, I have not got that.’ I think this is part of the resentment he feels because he just doesn’t have a big close family.”

“He’s never been close to his dad, mum or sister. And although he has some form of relationship with his uncle Jimmy, it’s not close and they often butt heads. So I think yes, Tom is probably jealous of what she has and sees it as her responsibility to match his situation. If I don’t have this same closeness with my family and you can see that. Then why are you with them all the time? Why are you not mirroring my situation? I think that is what he probably thinks.”

The next morning, the day of the wedding, Belle still hasn’t heard from Tom. As she continues leaving messages for him, she worries that she may have upset him enough for him to call the wedding off entirely.

As Tom talks with Jimmy, he gains a bit of perspective on the situation, and Belle is relieved when Tom finally texts to say that the wedding is still going ahead.

Belle is finally able to start enjoying her preparations as Mandy and Lydia (Karen Blick) fuss over her.

At the church, there’s worry as to whether Sam (James Hooton) will make it back in time to give Belle away, having paid a visit to Zak up in Scotland.

Thankfully he turns up in the old reliable Dingle van in the nick of time, with something very special for Belle.

“Zak has given Sam a letter to give Belle,” Eden reveals. “Her mum Lisa wrote it before she passed away to open on the day she got married. When Belle gets the letter she gets upset as it is too emotional and she thinks I can’t read this now, it’s too much.”

“All day she has it stuffed into her wedding bouquet, keeping it safe to read later. The letter is beautiful and so emotional and I can’t imagine receiving something like that – something so precious that had been kept safely for that special day. It is such a precious moment and so emotional that someone would do that.”

Sam takes his sister’s arm, and walks her down the aisle. Tom waits for her, having already begun to get irritated by the Dingle family oddities.

Charles (Kevin Mathurin) presides over the service, and after a few minor glitches, the pair are finally announced man and wife.

As everyone moves on to the reception at The Hide, the Dingles celebrate in their typical fashion, much to Tom’s frustration.

It’s clear that the family are intent on maintaining tradition, with the infamous welly ready and waiting to be drunk from on the top table. Tom struggles to maintain his composure as the family continue to grate on him.

“The Dingles are quite bombastic, fun and crazy,” James tells us. “I mean that in the best way but Tom isn’t so keen. I think his family is a lot more reserved. His upbringing was definitely more reserved. Obviously partly because his dad was not the best and I think his mum had to do the bulk of it on her own. So I think Tom is not used to the chaos of the Dingles but I think also it is because, as you will see at the wedding, they are all a bit Dingley and he is just annoyed that his quiet special genuine moments with Belle are constantly disrupted.”

“I think he finds it frustrating and he has lost control. I think control is what it always comes back to. I don’t think he knows how to deal with their chaos. I would say he’s threatened a bit by the family as he is very ordered but they are chaotic and there isn’t a button that he can use to turn that off. When you get married to a Dingle you are thrust right into the middle of it and I don’t think he had estimated that.”

“I don’t want to give everything away but there are some moments that jar with Tom,” James continues. “He sees their behaviour as rude. It is their wedding, so he is thinking the family should give them a bit of space. But Tom should know what family he is marrying into.”

“I think stuff like the conga annoys him as that moment is meant to be their first dance—finally a moment where they get to connect just the two of them, and then bang the Dingles come galloping in. The Dingles mean well and this is their way of welcoming him into the family. But he can’t see that.”

“Well, a lot happens at the reception,” Eden teases. “I won’t say what.. But I think that does change things a bit, as she can tell he’s getting annoyed about little things. I think she is just saying to herself ‘It is fine, it’s fine’ and then right at the end of the day something happens that just makes her think.. ‘Have I done the right thing? Is this the right man for me?’”

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One guest who’s certainly going to be getting on Tom’s nerves is Caleb’s (Will Ash) estranged wife Ruby (Beth Cordingly).

Ruby has took it upon herself to try and find out the reason behind Tracy’s (Amy Walsh) decision to tell Nate (Jurell Carter) that their marriage is over. Convinced Tracy must have had an affair with someone, Ruby has been keeping an eye out to find the mystery beau.

Little does she realise though that the man in question was in fact Caleb, Nate’s uncle. Next week, Ruby asks son Nicky (Lewis Cope) for ideas on how to win Caleb back, but when she sees Caleb and Tracy exchange words on Main Street that evening, everything suddenly seems to click into place.

A vengeful Ruby decides to bide her time though, with a plan to create as much chaos as possible with the timing of her revelation.

Sure enough, as the Dingles gather for the wedding reception, Ruby deliberately creates an awkward atmosphere, and later goes on to interrupt the proceedings to announce Caleb and Tracy’s affair to the entire family!

As the reception descends into chaos, Tom is furious that Belle’s family have seemingly ruined their big day!

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Chaos aside, would Eden and James like a similar setup for their own respective weddings?

“I loved Tom and Belle’s day as when they go to reception at the Hide it is just Dingle mayhem,” Eden laughs. “It is all the little things like we got to do the conga. I’ve not done the Dingle conga in so long.

“So I would actually love that day myself, though I don’t know how it would pan out in real life. Although if I were to get married, I would likely have a lot of Dingles attending so it probably would just turn into the Dingle conga!”

“I think I would tone it down a bit,” James adds. “But I would want to take on a bit of that fun though as I wouldn’t want it too ordinary. You would want people to have fun. The conga would be in there a hundred percent.“

But now that Tom’s true colours are starting to come through, how is Eden feeling about the year to come…

“Personally I’m really excited. I think it is going to be a really fun year. A big year. It will be challenging but I feel ready for that challenge. And Belle has no idea what is coming…“