Emmerdale fans have been left unhappy after the latest episode made it seem as if Kim Tate had been "replaced".
During Tuesday's episode, Kim was forced to apologise to Lydia and Sam Dingle after her husband wrongly accused Sam of stealing. Will Taylor was convinced Sam had taken his watch after catching him taking a shower at Home Farm.
Despite the couple insisting they had nothing to do with its disappearance, Will was ready to call the police on them. Trying to mediate between the parties involved, Kim gave the Dingles an ultimatum and said if the watch turned up again, no one would say anything and both could keep their jobs.
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Offended that Kim would not believe her, Lydia quit and stormed off. As it turned out later, it was baby Thomas who had been playing with the watch and it hadn't been stolen at all.
A grovelling Kim then goes on to offer both Sam and Lydia their jobs back at Home Farm. However, while Lydia agreed they would return to work - if their pay was increased - she would no longer be Kim's friend, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Lydia told her: "I have always been there for you, defended you. That one time we needed you to have our backs. Where were you? You're supposed to be my friend.
"Next time you need someone to organise a hen do or to stick up for you when everyone else is slagging you off, you can find some other mug".
Viewers found Kim's reaction during the exchange lacking. Many said past Kim, who used to be tough as nails, would never have let Lydia speak to her like that.
Taking to Twitter, Jessica said: "Back in the day Kim would have smacked Lydia. Why have they replaced her with a wet lettuce."
Pam asked: "Is that humble pie in front of Kim?" Ben wrote: "A few years ago Kim would have ripped Lydia to shreds, not stood there grovelling".
Paul said: "Classic Kim would have had the Dingles' cottage bulldozed for that back lip." And Georgia questioned: "Since when did Kim ever let anyone speak to her like that?"
Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV and ITVX
You can visit our Emmerdale homepage to find the latest gossip about the soap and its stars.
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