Emmerdale stars on Jimmy King’s exit from ITV soap

Nick Miles, who played Jimmy King for 22 years, and Nicola Wheeler, his on-screen wife, Nicola King, spoke about filming Jimmy’s send-off.

The stars opened up on his death and the impact on his departure in interviews following Emmerdale’s National Television Awards win in the Continuing Drama category.

Emmerdale stars reflect on emotional exit of Jimmy King after 22 years

Speaking to Radio Times after the award win, Mr Miles said: “Not to talk about myself, but the clip they showed was my last ever Emmerdale, and so it’s just a lovely, lovely way to end my 22-year Emmerdale story.

“So I feel on top of the world right now.”

Jimmy died following a car crash after losing control of his vehicle and crashing straight into the wedding marquee for Joe Tate and Dawn Fletcher.

Mr Miles continued: “We cried.

“We cried a lot,” with Ms Wheeler agreeing.

She then said: “I’ll tell you what it was like to film.

“It’s a bit like in [the NTAs Winners Room].

“It was in 30-degree heat, but it was beautiful.

“The art team had done a fantastic job with the marquee, and it did look gorgeous, didn’t it?

“It was very technical with the dream sequence, and the other bits in the car were hot, sweaty, and smelt of cheese.”

Mr Miles continued: “They packed a real picnic because Jimmy was planning a picnic, so there was a picnic in the car, and the cheese just started to pack up its bags and start to walk out.

“Yeah, and it stank like it became a smellier version a bit.

“I’d gone nose blind, but Nicola was nearly sick when she threw the car window for the first time.”

The actors also reflected on their long working relationship and the 17-year marriage between their characters.

Ms Wheeler said: “We’ve been together 17 years in the show.

“We’ve known each other for Nick’s whole 22 years in the show because I was in it a little bit before him, so we were good friends beforehand, but our characters never really interacted until we got together in the back of a van, and that was it.

“That’s history.”

Ms Wheeler also teased that Mr Miles’ exit will be felt in coming Emmerdale episodes.

She said: “I think poor Nicola is going to be mourning the loss of Jimmy for a considerable amount of time.

“I know that there are rumours of romance and things like that, but I don’t think that’s on the cards yet.

“I think there’ll be friendships before romance.”

Emmerdale stars reveal new project together

In other Emmerdale news, two former stars have unveiled a new project after years of collaboration off-screen.

Matthew Wolfenden and Roxy Shahidi, who played David Metcalfe and Leyla Cavanagh on the long-running ITV soap,

Wolfenden, 46, left Emmerdale in 2023 after 17 years on the show, while Shahidi, 43, departed in February 2025 after playing Leyla on and off for 16 years.

Now, the duo has revealed they have spent the past nine years working together as writing partners.

The pair shared the news on Instagram, posting behind-the-scenes photos and a screenshot of their page on United Agents’ website.

Writing over the image, they said: “We’ve never shared the fact that for the last nine years we’ve been writing partners – it’s truly brought us so much joy.”

Their latest project is an original comedy drama, currently in development.

In a video clip, they teased a look at the pilot script, titled Washed Up.

The script opens with the Bruce Springsteen song Glory Days playing over the opening scene, which is set in 1999 at The Big Breakfast House.

The pair wrote on Instagram over the clip: “We’re loving working and laughing together and we’re so excited to be in development with our original comedy drama.”

They captioned the announcement: “Find people you can dream with, create with and, most importantly, laugh with.

“Then somehow work doesn’t feel quite so much like work.”

The comedy-drama isn’t their first venture outside Emmerdale.

Earlier in 2024, they launched a podcast called Celebrity Side Hustles, where they interview actors and TV personalities about their passion projects and businesses beyond acting.

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