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Emmerdale airs emotional exit cliffhanger for Dawn Fletcher in early ITVX release

Warning: Contains spoilers for Thursday's episode of Emmerdale, which airs at 8pm on ITV1 or can be streamed now on ITVX.

Olivia Bromley as Dawn Taylor in Emmerdale

ITV

Published: Thursday, 21 May 2026 at 11:51 am

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Dawn Fletcher (Olivia Bromley) has attempted to flee from Emmerdale village – but was stopped in her tracks.

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In today's episode, she met up with Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb) and said that she had been left guilt-ridden about their plot against her fiancé Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).

They'd slept together the night before, after she'd expressed her love for him. It was a particularly awkward moment, as she was actually about to admit to her scheming.

As viewers know, Dawn joined forces with Moira and her husband Cain (Jeff Hordley) to bring Joe down. The trio had discovered that he was the one who blackmailed Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) into framing Moira for double murder and human trafficking, by planting passports belonging to Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) and Ray Walters's (Joe Absolom) enslaved workers in her living room.

Robert was terrified that his little sister Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) would be sent down otherwise, as Joe had a video of her killing their half-brother John (Oliver Farnworth).

Dawn talks to Joe in a scene from Emmerdale

Olivia Bromley as Dawn Fletcher in Emmerdale. ITV

In the aftermath, Joe managed to bag himself the keys to Moira's homestead, Butler's Farm, after convincing her to sell up, and chopped down the memorial tree that was planted for her daughter.

Moira's initial revenge plan was to aim a double-barreled shotgun at the multi-millionaire, which led to Dawn discovering what had happened. They decided that, if Dawn was to be a sitting duck and continue romancing Joe, she might eventually be able to get her hands on his fortune.

Earlier this week, it transpired that Joe and his former guardian Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) were well aware of what was going on. Joe explained that he wasn't seeking to get his own back, and would rather Dawn come to her own decision about whether she wants to stay with him.

He began to dote over her, hoping that she would change her mind, and even rushed her to the hospital when she collapsed at the bottom of the staircase.

Fearing that her world was about to come crumbling down around her, Dawn told ex-husband Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) that things would soon change and he would understand the decision when the time came.

She'd secretly packed her belongings into a car, and asked Moira to cause a distraction at Home Farm so that she could rush off without disruption. Unfortunately, Graham had already discovered what was unfolding, and called Joe to warn him.

Dawn and Joe stood talking in Home Farm in a scene from Emmerdale

Olivia Bromley as Dawn Fletcher and Ned Porteous as Joe Tate in Emmerdale.

He desperately tried to make her consider how different her life would be, hoping that it would buy some time for Joe to get there.

For a moment, it seemed like Dawn was beginning to change her mind, though Graham then warned that if she did stay, it would be likely that she'd begin to resent Joe even more and that things would quickly turn sour.

Joe then rushed over to the car bonnet, urging her to hear him out.

What will Dawn do?

Read more:

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.

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Authors

Michael Adams wearing a white t-shirt and beige gilet against a white background

Michael AdamsSoaps Editor

Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

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