7 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 17th to 20th March

Next week on Emmerdale, Joe’s secret is revealed, Manpreet gets help from an unlikely source, Sarah grows close to an intriguing newcomer, and Chas collapses after an eventful engagement party.

Please note that Emmerdale will not be airing on Friday next week. Instead there will be hour-long episodes on both Tuesday and Thursday.

1) Joe’s secret is revealed

Viewers will finally discover Joe Tate’s (Ned Porteous) big secret next week, three months after his shock return to the village.

Although Joe had claimed his reappearance was to protect step-grandmother, and former sworn enemy, Kim (Claire King) from ruin, it has been clear that there’s been a far more sinister motive at play.

Joe has secretly been battling an unknown serious illness, and has the mysterious Dr Crowley in his employ as he struggles to keep his ailment at bay.

Their scheme even went so far as to spike Joe’s half-brother Noah (Jack Downham) and secretly take him to a clinic for some form of medical tests.

Their subsequent dumping of a groggy Noah by the roadside inadvertently caused the deaths of three villagers, when Charity was forced to swerve the limo she was driving to avoid him.

Joe has been fit enough to begin an affair with married housemate Dawn (Olivia Bromley) however, right under the nose of her husband Billy (Jay Kontzle).

But next week, Joe is mysteriously cold as he rejects Dawn’s advances, desperate to keep her at arm’s length from both himself and a particular suitcase that he is storing in his bedroom.

When Joe goes on to open the mysterious case once Dawn is out of the way, we finally see its contents and get some idea of just what has been going on all this time…

When Crowley returns to Home Farm, it’s clear that their plan is reaching a crucial point, but it seems they haven’t accounted for Ross (Michael Parr), who presents an unforeseen complication later in the week…

2) Billy confesses to Dawn

Whilst Dawn plays away, Billy isn’t exactly playing the model husband either, when it was revealed last week that he had secretly been one of the subscribers to Manpreet’s (Rebecca Sarker) ‘OnlyFollowers’ account, where she’d been sharing adult content of herself.

It was only last year that Manpreet had tried to drunkenly kiss Billy, who quickly knocked her back, but now it seems the attraction could have turned mutual.

Manpreet recently shut down the profile, much to Billy’s disappointment, after she began receiving texts from someone who had learned her secret and was demanding money to keep quiet.

The blackmailer later pointed out that deleting the profile wouldn’t stop the content being leaked, leaving the village GP to confide in housemate Ella (Paula Lane) about her precarious situation.

Next week, it’s particularly awkward for Billy when he runs into Manpreet in the flesh, so to speak. When she then spots that he’s managed to injure himself whilst out for a run, Billy’s attempts to brush it off are in vain as Manpreet insists on patching him up and won’t take no for an answer.

When she drops Billy back at Home Farm, there’s a clear spark between the pair which doesn’t go unnoticed by Dawn.

Dawn is already in a bad mood after getting the cold shoulder from Joe, but neither partner realises that they’re both hiding indiscretions from each other.

Later in the week, Billy cannot hold in his guilt any longer, and admits to Dawn that he has been messaging another woman online.

Dawn is stunned, but knowing that she has been up to much worse, doesn’t feel as though she can take him to task on it.

Whilst grateful, Billy is surprised by Dawn’s understanding and forgiveness, blissfully unaware of the betrayal that’s been occurring under his nose.

3) Joe offers to help Manpreet

Meanwhile, Manpreet is hoping that paying off her blackmailer will finally put an end to her ordeal, as she arranges to meet in person to hand over the cash.

Over at the cricket pavilion, Manpreet steels herself as she awaits the mystery culprit… but is surprised when Joe turns up!

Manpreet immediately rips into Joe for what he’s put her through, but Joe claims to have no idea what she’s talking about. As Manpreet begins to accept Joe’s protestations that he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, she’s left fearful over the real blackmailer.

As Manpreet goes on to confess to Joe about the plot against her, he offers to help pay off the blackmailer, much to her surprise.

Is there an ulterior motive to Joe’s offer, and when will Manpreet find out who the real culprit is?

4) Sarah meets an intriguing newcomer

Elsewhere, it seems there is a spate of burglaries in the area, with several farms reporting the theft of expensive machinery.

It doesn’t take long for the thief to hit Butlers, when Mackenzie (Lawrence Boyd) spots someone taking off with the farm’s quad bike. Unfortunately, Mack was unable to either stop or identify the culprit, but his finger is soon pointing at Ross when he spots him driving a fancy new pick-up truck, wondering how he managed to afford it.

A short time later, Sarah (Katie Hill) comes across a young man, Kammy (Shebz Miah) on a country lane, struggling to get the stolen quad bike started.

“She instantly recognises it’s from Moira’s farm,” Katie Hill recently told us as she sat down to chat with EverySoap and other press. “So she’s aware of the situation, that it’s obviously stolen, and goes into that conversation thinking, ‘I’m gonna get this quad bike back’.”

“But then when she goes over, Kammy sort of turns on his charm. He’s complimenting her, which I think you do see her sort of enjoying. You can see there’s a bit of a connection between them both.”

Intrigued by the newcomer, Sarah gives him a lift back to the village with the quad on the back of the truck. Despite his flirtation with Sarah, Kammy can’t help but be nervous being back in the village alongside the stolen quad.

Sure enough, it’s not long before they’re spotted when an accusatory Ross approaches. Kammy is surprised when Sarah, despite knowing the bike is nicked, covers for him… and what’s more, she wants in on his little racket!

“I think throughout my time of playing Sarah, I’ve had some moments where she goes a bit reckless,” Katie tells us. “And I think she sort of thinks, well, if I don’t know what how my life’s gonna pan out [due to her Fanconi anaemia], then I’m gonna live life however I want. I think sometimes she also forgets that may come with a few consequences.”

Soon enough, Sarah and Kammy are racing a pair of stolen quads across the dales, Sarah elated at being able to have some fun after what has been a tough few weeks.

Although Sarah has recently been seeing Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant), his increased stress at work followed by the death of his mum Leyla (Roxy Shahidi) have seen him pushing away Sarah, who for a time thought she was pregnant with his baby after receiving a false positive on a test.

When Sarah’s grandmother Charity (Emma Atkins) walks in on Sarah and Kammy getting particularly close back at Jacobs Fold, how will she react?

“I think Charity’s definitely suspicious of Kammy at the start,” Katie continues. “Sarah’s been spending a lot of time with him and become a bit distant from Charity. So Charity wants to find out more about Kami and do a bit of digging to hopefully find something bad out about him. Charity really likes Jacob and wants her to be with a sensible boy.”

But will Sarah listen to her gran’s concerns?

“No, I don’t think so,” Katie laughs. “And I think especially when Charity is telling her off for doing all this stuff, Sarah can turn around and say, well, it’s nothing that you haven’t done before!

“She definitely uses that as an excuse for her reckless behaviour because she just thinks, well, everyone else has done it. So they can’t tell me off for doing it!”

As the two suddenly become partners in crime, will Sarah’s friendship with Kammy lead to something more?

5) A surprise proposal at Chas and Liam’s engagement party!

There’s cause for celebration amongst all the tragedy of recent weeks, as a surprise engagement party is thrown for Chas (Lucy Pargeter) and Liam (Jonny McPherson).

Liam had been in the process of proposing in the limo when it had crashed, and after he survived being rushed into surgery for a bleed on the brain, a relieved Chas decided to pop the question herself.

Next week, John (Oliver Farnworth) tells Chas’s son Aaron (Danny Miller) his insecurities about Chas, feeling that she hasn’t fully accepted their relationship.

Seeing a good opportunity to find a way to get into her good books, the pair come up with the idea for the engagement party.

Chas and Liam are shocked when they’re subsequently summoned to the pub to find it decked out with all their friends there to celebrate, and Aaron is keen to ensure that John gets the credit for the event.

Touched that Aaron has gone to the trouble of trying to help him with his concerns, John later seizes the moment and proposes to Aaron!

Aaron is delighted and quickly says yes, but what should have been an intimate moment between the pair is interrupted by Mandy (Lisa Riley), who has overheard everything.

The two are mortified when Mandy then proceeds to announce their engagement to the whole pub, taking the limelight away from Chas and Liam.

Aaron can’t help but notice that Chas isn’t too enthusiastic about the development, and when she later expresses her concerns to Aaron about how fast things are moving, neither of them realise that John is listening in to their conversation…

6) Ella and Chas come to blows

There’s further drama during the celebration when Ella heads into the pub, inadvertently gatecrashing her ex-boyfriend’s engagement party.

Although she opts to stay, Ella can’t help but rant about Chas to John, who himself is still smarting about her apparent muted reaction to the news of his and Aaron’s engagement.

When Ella later manages to spill a drink over Chas, the tension between the pair erupts, leading to a very public row!

7) Chas collapses!

The following day, her bust-up with Ella the talk of the village, Chas is alone in the pub when she suddenly collapses to the floor, hitting her head on the bar in the process.

John ends up being the first on the scene, but will he be able to help Chas?

Later in the week, as questions arise, Ella manages to find herself at the centre of suspicion… but are people jumping to the wrong conclusions?