Soap fans have been determined to know who is blackmailing Will Taylor and Billy Fletcher is one of the many suspects. But next week, it’s clear that he is keeping another secret.

Dawn Fletcher catches on to Billy next week as she realises he is keeping a huge secret from her – but it won’t have anything to do with Will Taylor.

The Emmerdale character portrayed by Dean Andrews has been targeted by a mysterious blackmailer in recent scenes of the ITV soap and fans have been trying to figure out who could be tormenting him for money.

Amid theories that his wife Kim Tate (Claire King) could be the one behind the scheme, Will’s son-in-law Billy (Jay Kontzle) is another potential suspect and in scenes due to air next week, it becomes clear that he is hiding something. But it may not be what viewers are expecting.

Dawn confronts Billy with a mysterious wad of cash next week as the hunk is acting shifty

Coming up in the eponymous village, Dawn (Olivia Bromley) confronts her husband, whom she married in February, 2022, over money she found among his belongings, presenting him with a secret wad of cash. Billy brushes it all off, claiming the money is only savings for a surprise.

The hunk is forgiven but when Dawn heads back upstairs, a shifty Billy makes a cryptic phone call, asking for more work – who could he be reaching out to? And could he be targeted by the same person blackmailing Will? Dawn and Billy recently saw their life as a family turned upside down by the news their baby son Evan had been diagnosed with leukaemia.

Meanwhile, tension has been palpable at Home Farm as Kim Tate and Will Taylor try to move on from Rose Jackson and her disappearance. As viewers of the Yorkshire-based programme will remember, the couple conspired together to get rid of Rose, only for Dawn to find out what her father had done, prompting her to leave Home Farm with her husband and children in a rage.

But trouble is on its way to Kim Tate as she mysteriously vanishes from the Dales next week, while Will tries to find her. Will first panics next week when his blackmailer demands another £50k after he missed his latest drop to help fight the barn fire. Caleb Miligan (Will Ash) is soon surprised when Will asks for a loan in return for his shares in the haulage business. Unable to pass up the opportunity, the businessman agrees.

With Caleb’s loan in hand, a chipper Will makes big promises to Kim but his good mood is squashed when the blackmailer intervenes with messages demanding their payment. The following day, after receiving Caleb’s £40k in cash, Will lets them know he can finally pay his due.

But when he decides to confess to Jimmy that he made a deal with Caleb, the men’s friendship is left in the balance as Jimmy is unable to handle the betrayal. Unfortunately for Will, things only get worse when he returns to Home Farm for lunch as he realises that Kim has gone missing.

He’s soon disturbed to receive a call from his blackmailer, telling him that they have abducted his wife. The blackmailer gives Will instructions, allowing him to reach Kim on their own terms. Will soon arrives in a woodland area near the villa, eager to save his wife. But he is perplexed when he can only find a mannequin dressed just like her. Goaded to go further into the woods, could Will be in danger?