Emmerdale’s Claire King has revealed that her father has died.

The actress, who portrays Kim Tate on the ITV soap, opened up about the heartbreaking family loss in a new interview as she discussed her plans for Christmas.

‘Unfortunately, my dad passed away recently,’ she said.

‘My mum will be coming to us along with my brother and his girlfriend. I’m doing the cooking – Marks & Sparks is my friend!’

She added to TV Times: ‘My partner and I would like a chateaubriand but other people like turkey. I might compromise and do a goose.’

Claire has been at the centre of Emmerdale over the past year after Kim found out that husband Will Taylor (Dean Andrews) had cheated on her with his ex Rose (Christine Tremarco).

In typical Kim fashion, the matriarch concocted a well-thought out plan to get revenge on her cheating beau, making him believe that someone else had uncovered his affair as she discreetly blackmailed him for cash.

Will did everything he could to keep the blackmailer at bay, unaware that his wife was the one behind the scheme – something which he found out the hard way when Kim made it look like she had been kidnapped by the mystery villain.

That is, until she revealed herself to be the calculated blackmailer, demanding that Will give her a divorce.

Kim, who remains a fan-favourite character, made her Emmerdale debut all the way back in 1989.

Claire departed the role in 1999 and staged an iconic return almost two decades later in 2018.