Emmerdale star Nicola Wheeler has opened up about Jimmy King’s shocking death and her final scenes with Nick Miles.
Wheeler and Miles spent more than a decade playing married couple Nicola and Jimmy King. Their long-running relationship ended unexpectedly when Jimmy died after a car crash.
Jimmy’s final episode aired on August 27. His death created a major change for Nicola, who must now face life without her longtime on-screen husband.
Wheeler described filming their final scenes as “surreal”. She admitted that she struggled to accept that their characters would no longer appear together.
“It was really surreal,” Wheeler said. “It sort of ends, and you go, ‘Oh gosh, that’s it’. We’ll never be Nick and Jimmy again together.”
The actress also described herself as “absolutely gutted” when she learned about the storyline. She said Jimmy and Nicola had become an institution on the show.
“I was gutted because Jimmy and Nicola had become such an institution,” she said.
Wheeler explained why the emotional scenes felt particularly strange. Emmerdale shoots episodes out of order, which made the final moments difficult to process.
“Even whilst we were filming it all, it never felt real because we film out of sync,” she said.
Wheeler praised the writers for creating powerful scenes. However, she admitted that filming the ending felt difficult.
“They wrote those scenes beautifully, so you want to do them justice. But at the same time, you don’t want them to end because then it becomes final,” she said.
Wheeler believes Nicola will continue to carry Jimmy’s memory. She said her character may eventually find love again, but she will never completely forget Jimmy.
“I can’t imagine the character would ever fully move on,” she said. “I think there’s always going to be part of her that loves him.”
Meanwhile, Chris Coghill’s character Kev Townsend could become an unexpected source of support for Nicola.
Wheeler revealed that Kev helps Nicola as she deals with her grief. She also hinted that Nicola could begin seeing him differently after an emotional incident.
“Kev is a gentleman, and I think from that moment she starts to see him in a different light,” she said.
Jimmy’s death gives Nicola a new chapter on Emmerdale. Fans will now see how she handles the loss and whether Kev becomes an important part of her future.
