Fans are set for an emotional reunion this Christmas in the Dales

A Christmas miracle is on the horizon in the Dales as Belle Dingle reunites with a character she assumed she’d never see again.

As Eden Taylor-Draper’s character Belle was suffering from a lengthy campaign of abuse at the hands of Tom King, one of his cruellest acts yet happened back in August. The vet told Belle that Piper the dog had died after a road accident, the lie was told shortly after he kidnapped her from Belle when he thought she was getting too close to Vinny Dingle.

Tom intended to make it look as though Vinny had carelessly lost Piper, while he had her hidden in the vets surgery until he could play the pretend hero and bring her back to Belle.

Viewers witnessed Tom speeding in his car towards Piper, and then showing himself and Rhona Goskirk trying to save the dog. Tom later informs Belle that he wasn’t able to save her, as the injuries were too severe.

After pretending to bury Piper, Tom is seen handing the healthy dog over to her new owners, citing that Piper had “an abusive owner” and was in need of a new home.

On Monday’s (23rd December) episode, viewers saw Belle figure it out that Piper wasn’t really dead, and she and Vinny got to work to dig up the grave. Speaking to Metro, Eden said: “She never actually saw Piper’s body, she never really saw what actually happened, she was just told,

“I think she has that in her head and she can’t get it out of her head. And Tom’s obviously lied about so much, so she just thinks, ‘We never saw the evidence. We buried a casket, but who knows what’s in there?'”

Once the coffin is opened, Belle and Vinny find that only a singular brick is lay in there, leading them to question where Piper could be.

Fans of the ITV soap can prepare themselves for an emotional reunion, as Vinny and Gabby track down Piper’s new owners and manage to bring her back to Belle.

Emmerdale took to Instagram and captioned a photo of Vinny and Belle uncovering the grave: “Did anyone else shout ‘SHE IS ALIVE!’?”

Seemingly, fans share the excitement ahead of the reunion, @clarkey_clarkey wrote: “Hurry up and get them reunited. Happy ending for Belle”. @tracey.c70 echoed: “Can’t wait for Christmas Day episode of Emmerdale, Belle and Piper reunited”.

Discussing the reunion, Eden added: “She is by her dad’s grave having a moment then all of a sudden you just see Piper running up with a bow on. It was so cute!

“It was like, ‘This is the best day!’ It was really nice, especially it being Christmas. I think it was lovely and it felt like a real treat. For Belle it’s obviously huge.”

Emmerdale is on tonight at 7pm on ITV1.