Emmerdale spoilers follow.

Emmerdale’s Nicola King was left distraught after hearing what appeared to be an incriminating voicenote her late partner Jimmy sent to his ex, Sadie. But in a gut-wrenching twist, she might have got the wrong end of the stick.

Tonight’s (25 September) episode opened in the aftermath of Vinny Dingle being charged by the police for causing death by dangerous driving, following the demises of both Jimmy and Dawn Fletcher late last month.

emmerdale, nicola king

ITV

Related: 18 huge Emmerdale spoilers for next week (28 September to 2 October)

Tonight, Mandy implored a bereaved Nicola to “put in a good word” for Vinny in court, in the hopes that it would reduce the odds of him going to prison.

Mandy referenced how Vinny is going through a similar plight to Nicola’s own daughter Angelica, who was given an eight-month sentence in 2024 for causing the death of Heath Hope – also behind the wheel of a car.

The comparison infuriated Nicola, but once she’d calmed down, she reasoned: “Vinny has got to pay the price, just like Angelica had to. Maybe I could have thought more about Bob [Heath’s father] when he was going through it.”

“But I was just focused on Angelica like you’re focused on Vinny now. So I shouldn’t blame you for coming here. But I need justice for my children and for me. Most importantly, I need justice for Jimmy,” she added.

Her world soon came crashing down, however, when she sat down to listen to a voicenote that young Carl had found on Jimmy’s laptop – one that Jimmy had sent to his ex-wife Sadie.

Fans of the ITV soap have already seen Sadie claim to have been back in a secret relationship with Jimmy for three years in the run-up to his death, though this hasn’t be conclusively proven.

emmerdale, nicola king

ITV

Related: Exclusive: Emmerdale star breaks silence on Lewis and Vinny’s shock split

Her claims were assumed to be lies, but Nicola’s worst fears appeared to be coming true when she finally heard Jimmy say: “Hi, Sadie. It’s me. You all warm and cosy in that hotel? Well, I’m coming now and I’m bringing the money, too.”

Upset, she took out the earphones and walked off – but she missed the crucial next part of the message, in which Jimmy added: “But this is it, you hear? I’m not doing this again. Nico would kill me if she knew about it, and she’d be right to and all. I love that woman to bits and it’s not right, me lying to her.”

So what was really going on between Jimmy and Sadie?

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.

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