Emmerdale’s James Chase has lifted the lid on who could be stepping into his shoes as the next ITV villain – and it’s very close to home.

Emmerdale star James Chase has warned  ITV fans that another villain is set to wreak havoc in the village.

Over the past six months, the 28-year-old’s character Tom King has been slowly abusing his wife Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper). Thankfully, the blonde bombshell finally ended her marriage to the sick maniac which sent him a murderous rampage to get revenge.

Things finally came to a head last week when he tried to kill her, resulting in her wedging an axe in his back. Although the vet survived the attack, he remains in hospital as police look into the violent attack.

As fans breathe a sigh of relief for Belle, the soap hunk has warned viewers that another villain will cause chaos in his absence.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk at the Inside Soap Awards 2024, the hunk revealed that another King is set to follow in his footsteps this autumn.

Emmerdale’s James Chase has teased the identity of the next ITV villain (Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

He told us: “The King’s are all bad eggs, like Angelica’s really bad. She’ll probably turn into a wrong ‘un, let’s be real – I mean she was bullying kids in prison!

“We’ve always been bad, the King’s, but we make it interesting for you on telly, so really, we’re better than the Dingles. There, I said it!”

Loyal fans of the ITV soap will recall that the teenager – played by Rebecca Bakes – was slapped with an eight-month sentence after she confessed to being responsible for Heath Hope’s death (Sebastian Dowling) back in February.

Angelica was slapped with an eight-month sentence behind bars (Image: ITV)

She was behind the wheel when she tragically crashed the car on the way to a New Year’s Eve party, which ended the life of Bob’s (Antony Audenshaw) only son.

And it appears as though life behind bars has changed her after Jimmy King (Nick Miles) revealed over the summer that Angel had developed an attitude problem.

He told Tom that the teen has been ruffling feathers with the other inmates in the Secure Unit. Fans will have to stay tuned to see what mayhem the blonde beauty will cause when she returns to the village in the next few weeks.

Emmerdale airs from Monday to Thursday on ITV1 from 7.30pm or catch up on ITVX.