Belle Dingle terrified as husband Tom King’s abuse is laid bare in Emmerdale

BELLE Dingle has been suffering behind closed doors in her marriage with Tom King – but the dark side of their relationship is set to come to light.

The poor bride saw a nasty side to her husband on their wedding night when he pushed her to consummate the marriage and then made her sleep on the sofa by herself afterwards.

ITV

Two couples will come under the spotlight in an upcoming episode[/caption]

ITV

Tom’s abuse is set to get more obvious[/caption]

Things only got worse between the pair as Tom continued to pressure Belle into having sex when she didn’t feel comfortable with it.

He has also berated and mocked her every time she tried to express her emotions or stand up for herself.

Now a new Emmerdale episode will demonstrate how the couple can appear to be happy on the surface while hiding alarming cracks in their relationship.

Tom invites his colleagues over for dinner to cover his back after making a mistake at the veterinary practise, but warns Belle that she will be responsible for his guests having a good time.

The nervous wife does her best to spruce up for the event and put together a lovely meal, but an angry Tom demands she get changed, calling her outfit inappropriate.

As she obeys, he discovers something about her and follows her to the bathroom to make more threats.

However, once their friends arrive all the focus is on Rhona and Marlon as they are noticeably tense and begin to have a domestic at the dinner table.

No one notices that Tom won’t let Belle out of his sight, or checks if she is okay when she excuses herself to the kitchen, saying the onions have made her cry.

Eventually guests start to head home after the atmosphere is ruined by Rhona and Marlon bickering, even though Belle begs them all to stay.

Once they leave she faces the consequences of Tom’s bad mood in terrifying scenes.

Will things get bad enough that Belle finally speaks out about what she is enduring in private?

Or will Tom’s abuse escalate even more before someone else intervenes?

Eden Draper-Taylor, who plays Belle, said of the special episode: “I think you can expect to see everything escalate throughout the episode.

“You’ll see how easily Tom can switch on and off and how he truly feels and his anger towards Belle.

“You’ll get a glimpse into Belle’s terrifying reality.” 

Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.