Emmerdale actress Claire King has hinted that Joe Tate could still return - and that it could be "explosive".
After half a year of speculation it finally emerged that Joe wasn't dead and had actually been abroad.
Despite this, it looks likely that actor Ned Porteous, who played Joe, won't be returning any time soon as he is reportedly determined to crack Hollywood.
But Claire, who plays villainous Kim, refused to rule out Joe's return and teased Kim and Joe's "explosive" reunion.
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Asked whether she would like him to come back, Claire said: "Well I can’t see him coming back in the foreseeable future. But yeah, if he did come back, I imagine it would quite explosive, wouldn't you?
"Because they are cut from the same cloth and also because she was from the other side of the Tate family that Kim did not get on with."
At yesterday's press day, Claire also appeared with new actor Alex Lincoln, who plays her son Jamie Tate.
Jamie is returning to the Dales after 20 years and is nothing like his manipulative mum - nor does he want anything to do with her.
"He's sick of her controlling ways so that's why they haven't been in touch for so many years," Claire explains.
Alex describes his character as "naive" and "innocent", but says that Jamie "didn't want anything to do with Kim".
Opening up about the moment Jamie sees his mum for the first time in years, he says: "He thinks she’s still in prison, he doesn’t expect to see her at allAnd under the circumstances it’s just pure frustration because he wanted to start a new life, admittedly in the village and he wanted to stay away from [Kim]."
*Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7pm on ITV, with additional episodes at 8pm on Thursdays
