Top News

Fans of Emmerdale believe they've uncovered Vanessa Woodfield's exit after 14 years. ITV soap fans will know that Vanessa (played by Michelle Hardwick) first arrived in the Dales back in 2012 when she was hired by Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) to work at the vets.

Vanessa has since been involved in several memorable storylines, including a heartbreaking bowel cancer diagnosis, her romance with Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), and being held hostage by serial killer Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather). Last year, she faced more turmoil when "the love her life", Suzy Merton (Martelle Edinborough), died in the limo crash that also claimed the lives of Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) and Amy Barton (Natalie Ann Jamieson).

However, Vanessa was unaware that Suzy was actually in love with Rhona's mum, Mary (Louise Jameson), before she died, and wanted to be with her instead. A new romance could be on the cards for Vanessa as she recently let Dr Caitlin Todd (Caroline Harker) move into her spare room, following her sister Tracy Robinson's (Amy Walsh) departure.

Vanessa doesn't know that Dr Todd has been tormenting her mentee, Jacob Sugden (Joe-Warren Plant), leading the youngster to lodge a formal complaint with HR.

The bullying storyline took a turn on Wednesday (May 6) when Jacob confronted Todd after she maliciously implied to Sarah (Katie Hill) how her husband was desperate to return to work, despite their newborn baby. A furious Jacob later found Todd in the Woolpack corridor and warned her off from lying to his wife.

Vanessa walked in on the confrontation, before later paying Jacob a visit at the shop. "You clearly have a problem with a female boss. There's some weird power dynamic going on with you," Vanessa fumed.

She went on: "I only see one liar and it isn't your boss... Stay away from her, do you hear me? Because if I have to, I will make sure there will be real consequences... I hate saying this, Jacob, but honestly, your mother would be ashamed of you."

After seeing Vanessa angrily confront Jacob, Sarah demanded to know what was happening, with Jacob finally coming clean about all of Todd's harassment. As Jacob tearfully confessed to the bullying, Sarah comforted him and promised that they would face the problem together.

Emmerdale viewers were left fuming after Vanessa's outburst, with many now predicting her exit from the Dales. "Vanessa was awful in tonight's ep with the way she was speaking to Jacob," one person wrote on a Facebook fan page.

Another added: "She'll probably fall in love with Todd and they'll leave together," while a third said: "What if Todd holds her hostage like Pierce did? What a twist!"

A fourth fan echoed the sentiment, saying: "Vanessa always gets the wrong end of the stick. She'll get a shock when she finds out what Todd's really like," with another similarly sharing: "I was really angry today with this episode and how Vanessa treated Jacob."

In scenes set to air next week, Mary plays matchmaker between Vanessa and Dr Todd. Vanessa asks her housemate out and they arrange a date. However, when Todd later announces that she has inherited her late father's home in Matlock, Vanessa worries that the long distance will affect their relationship, so she suggests they remain friends. Will Todd agree?

Emmerdale airs weekday nights at 8pm on ITV1 and STV, while Coronation Street airs weekday nights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and STV as part of ITV's new soap power hour scheduling pattern for Coronation Street and Emmerdale