It’s been a busy week of news involving Soapland’s biggest villains, with new updates

dropping on what the future holds for Emmerdale’s Tom King and Coronation Street’s Joel Deering.

Plenty of cast changes have also been hitting the headlines, with the sad news that some familiar faces will be leaving our screens soon.

Elsewhere, both Australian soaps are planning to kill off characters in the near future – but the secretive Neighbours and Home and Away bosses are leaving us to guess who’s being shown the door.

Did you miss any news this week? Here’s our weekly Sunday guide to the biggest soap headlines.

Emmerdale’s Tom makes a dark new plan
belle dingle, tom king, emmerdale

ITV
Emmerdale’s domestic abuse storyline has taken a short break from our screens recently, with Belle King currently away visiting her family in Scotland.

However, new spoilers have revealed that the story will be revisited from next Wednesday (August 14), as evil Tom prepares for his estranged wife’s homecoming.

Once Belle is back in the village, Tom tries every trick he can think of to manipulate her into reconciling with him. He’s surprised when Belle shows her strength by standing firm, making it clear that she wants nothing more to do with him.

Although Tom pretends to respect Belle’s wishes, his true motivations become clear as he spies on her via some secret security feeds that he set up while she was away. Belle still has no privacy in her own home, leaving her vulnerable to Tom’s next twisted move.

The walls close in on Coronation Street’s Joel
dee dee bailey, joel deering, coronation street

ITV
Coronation Street’s Dee-Dee Bailey is clearly no fool, as this week’s episodes saw her become visibly uneasy over her fiancé Joel Deering openly lying to her.

The situation intensifies next week as Dee-Dee uncovers more examples of Joel’s deception and goes snooping around his flat, which he’d falsely claimed to have given up after moving in with her.

With Dee-Dee now getting ever closer to the truth over Joel’s guilt in the Lauren Bolton case, it’s perhaps no surprise that Calum Lill – who plays the villain – has acknowledged that the end of his story is coming.

He said this week: “I think it’s bittersweet for me as an actor. It’s getting more and more juicy, but as soon as this comes to a climax, I leave this incredible place filled with so many people I’ve come to know and love and been some of my best friends over the last 18 months.

“I’m very excited to get to the end of the story but it will be very bittersweet because it’s the most incredible place to work.”

Could Dee-Dee be the one who sparks Joel’s inevitable downfall?

Home and Away’s mystery death
felicity and cash newman in home and away

Channel 5
Home and Away released a headline-grabbing trailer in Australia this week, warning that a fan favourite will be killed off in upcoming episodes.

Felicity Newman, Cash Newman and Irene Roberts were initially named as the three characters in danger, with each of them involved in big storylines in episodes airing Down Under recently.

Since then, though, Irene has headed off to rehab on Australian screens after relapsing back into alcohol abuse. She’s expected to be off screen for a few months, as Lynne McGranger – who plays her – has been busy with a theatre project.

With one character seemingly crossed off the list, then, it seems that there’s tragedy ahead for the Newman siblings.

The drama takes place on Aussie screens next week just as Cash and Eden Fowler celebrate their engagement, but who won’t make it through the day alive?

EastEnders return for Bianca
patsy palmer as bianca in eastenders

Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron//BBC
EastEnders finally confirmed a casting rumour this week, after fans had spotted tell-tale signs that Patsy Palmer could be back filming for the BBC soap again.

Show bosses officially announced that Patsy’s iconic character Bianca Jackson is heading back to Walford in the coming weeks. As Bianca makes her return, she’s unaware that her dad David Wicks won’t be far behind.

A statement released by the show teased: “With a whole heap of unfinished business to resolve, and having previously implored Sonia to steer clear of Reiss, it’s safe to say that Bianca is a woman on a mission.”

Hollyoaks exit for Leah Barnes revealed
leah barnes and ste hay in hollyoaks

Lime Pictures
Hollyoaks waves goodbye to another familiar face later this year as Leah Barnes exits the village.

Although no official announcement has been made, Ela-May Dermican has reportedly quit as Leah after playing the role for 13 years.

Ela-May joined the show in 2011 when she was just four years old, so it’s the end of an era for Ste Hay and his on-screen family.

Coronation Street return for Damon Hay
damon hay, coronation street

ITV
Coronation Street guest star Ciarán Griffiths may live in Australia in real life, but despite the 9,000-mile trip to the cobbles, he’s seemingly never gone for long.

The actor was tipped for a third stint as Damon Hay this week after being spotted near the soap’s set at Media City in Salford.

Damon was last seen in March when he was jailed for his involvement in an armed robbery.

It seems unlikely that Damon would be freed so quickly, so could a prison visit be on the cards?

Neighbours’ Death in the Outback week
toadie rebecchi in neighbours

Amazon Freevee / FremantleMedia Australia
Much like its long-time rival Home and Away, Neighbours is also busy promoting a mysterious death which will air in the not-too-distant future.

Cast and crew headed away from the show’s regular Erinsborough locations earlier this year to film a week of episodes set in the Australian Outback.

Toadie Rebecchi, Melanie Pearson, Holly Hoyland, Mackenzie Hargreaves and Haz Devkar take centre stage in the episodes, alongside guest-villains-of-the-moment Tess Carmichael and Heath Royce.

As Toadie will be leaving the show soon and it hasn’t been confirmed whether the door is to be left open, the stakes seem higher than ever over who could be killed off.

Neighbours’ executive producer Jason Herbison was also quizzed this week on the surprising decision to axe Toadie from the show, but keen to avoid letting any spoilers slip, he wasn’t giving much away about the popular character’s fate.

Coronation Street exit for Stu Carpenter
stu carpenter, coronation street

ITV
Coronation Street star Bill Fellows was also confirmed to be leaving the soap world this week.

Bill has been playing Yasmeen Metcalfe’s partner Stu Carpenter since 2021, but is bowing out in order to pursue other roles.

Could this tie in with the ongoing tensions between Speed Daal’s latest employee Mason Radcliffe and terrified teen Dylan Wilson?

Hollyoaks time jump teasers
john paul mcqueen and theresa mcqueen in hollyoaks

Lime Pictures
Digital Spy was lucky enough to pay a visit to the Hollyoaks set in Liverpool recently, chatting to the cast while they took part in a nominees photoshoot for the Inside Soap Awards 2024.

As we grilled the stars on future developments, the main topic of conversation was naturally the 12-month time jump which is hitting our screens in mid-September.

James Sutton confirmed that his character John Paul McQueen will be in a new relationship following the jump forward, while Kirsty-Leigh Porter explained that Leela Lomax’s grief storyline won’t be forgotten.

Charlie Clapham also confirmed that his character Freddie Roscoe will survive the jump ahead – perhaps not a huge surprise so soon after show bosses brought him back.