Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) is set to become the centre of a harrowing storyline in Emmerdale when she is raped by Craig (Ben Addis) in distressing scenes.
Craig originally showed up in the village through the recruitment fair by coincidence, but when he discovered his former flame Lydia there, he couldn’t bear to leave. He spent time trying to worm his way into Lydia’s life – pressuring her to give him her number for instance and later showing up at her home without warning having stolen her address – which seemed innocent at first but now we know was complete manipulation. After almost driving a wedge between her and Sam, he left – but now he’s back.
Craig returns to the village, much to the surprise of Lydia and Sam, wanting to know where their son’s ashes are scattered. Lydia nervously agrees to take him, and the pair bond over the loss, with Craig contemplating what could have been.
The moment becomes charged and there’s an almost kiss, leaving Lydia anxious and fearful for her relationship with Sam (James Hooton). With this on her mind, she snaps at Kim (Claire King), before eventually revealing what’s eating away at her. She keeps it a secret from Sam but decides to hand in her notice with Craig.
As she goes to do so the next day, he manipulates her into questioning whether it’s the right move and reveals his strong feelings for her. She sets very clear boundaries and is explicit that nothing will ever happen, which Craig takes as a green light. He forces himself on Lydia and rapes her.
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Unsurprisingly, it will have a devastating effect on Lydia, who is left so ashamed by the ordeal she can’t bear to tell anyone. But actress Karen Blick revealed to metro.co.uk that Lydia will have one confidante in the wake of the crime, Kim Tate.
Kim realises something is amiss by her long-term pal’s strange behaviour at Home Farm.
Explaining how Kim finds out, Karen shared: ‘Kim certainly suspects [what happened], because she goes to work the next day for Kim and tries to carry on, but Kim can see things are not quite right and tries to question her. Lydia just shuts down’.
Karen reveals that Kim is the perfect choice for support as she offers ‘distance’ from her family as Lydia struggles with feelings of shame and guilt over what is done to her.
‘Kim would offer the distance from her family, because she’s [Lydia] really close to Mandy, but confiding in Mandy would Mandy tell Sam?’ Karen shared. ‘She does not want Sam hurt, distressed or upset.’
She added that despite what Craig has done, Lydia knows what would be instore for him should the family find out.
‘Knowing the Dingles as she does, what will happen if Cain finds out?’ she said, explaining Lydia’s ownjustifications. ‘Will people hound Craig? Will the Dingles seek revenge in some sort of way?’
Aside from the distance, Kim also provides Lydia with the friendship from their long history together.
‘Kim provides that distance but there’s also that friendship and history that the two women have,’ Karen said. ‘I think Kim would be a good, sound source of advice, guidance and support for Lydia.’
So it’ll be up to Kim to provide Lydia the support she needs. But with her track record of handling people she doesn’t like (Dawn’s ex Alex, for example), will Kim Tate pull a Kim Tate on rapist Craig? Will he end up in a shallow grave on Home Farm?
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