Emmerdale's Nicola Wheeler Warns of More Trouble for Nicola King After Jimmy's Death
Emmerdale star Nicola Wheeler has warned that there is more trouble ahead for her character, Nicola King, following the heartbreaking death of Jimmy King. Nick Miles departed the ITV soap last week in sad scenes when Jimmy got caught up in a marquee incident and died with Nicola by his side. The fallout from the death continues as Nicola faces new challenges.
Next week, Nicola is anxious about affording to give Jimmy the funeral he deserves. She decides to turn to Jimmy's haulage shares for Elliot and his future, but later discovers that Jimmy has sold them. As Nicola realizes the money from the sale is missing, she finds that the family home has been remortgaged and is in arrears, adding to her financial worries.
Wheeler, who has played Nicola since 2001, spoke about her character's state of mind: "She can't believe that life is going to exist without him (Jimmy), especially as the day was supposed to start with something very romantic, and it ended in tragedy."
She also joked about the possibility of Nicola moving on: "Why can't Nicola have lots of different relationships? I've tried to pit she should start going on dating apps and just get horrendous dates and really bad experiences. It would bring quite a bit of fun back into it."
Teasing a surprising revelation, Wheeler added: "I think the audience are gonna be mighty surprised at the life Jimmy was leading that nobody knew about. It's unsettling because it's totally against his personality. You would never imagine that Jimmy in this world would behave like this."
Filming Nick Miles' final scenes was "surreal" for Wheeler, who has worked with the actor for years. She described the experience: "It was really surreal. It sort of ends, and you go, 'Oh gosh, that's it'. We'll never be Nick and Jimmy again together. I was gutted because I think it's the institution that Jimmy and Nicola were."
She explained further: "Even whilst we were filming it all, it never felt real because we film out of sync. When it came to doing all the scenes where he dies, it was odd. It's almost like you didn't want to do it. They were beautifully written scenes, so you want to do them justice but at the same time, you don't want them to end because then it means this is final."
Wheeler also hinted at a potential new romance for Nicola from an unlikely source: "I can't imagine the character would ever fully move on. I think there's always going to be part of her that loves him. Her heart will grow to fit another love in, but she will never let Jimmy go."
She added: "Something happens in which I can only say Nicola behaves appallingly, and Kev is a gentleman, and I think from that moment she starts to see him in a different light."
Jimmy King, played by Nick Miles, died after crashing his car into a wedding marquee during Dawn and Joe's wedding. He had kept secrets from Nicola, including a mountain of debt and selling his haulage business to Caleb and Ruby Miligan. Jimmy had previously been married to Sadie King, who is set to return to Emmerdale this year.
Background
Nicola Wheeler joined Emmerdale in 2001 as Nicola King (née Blackstock). She left in March 2006 and returned in 2007. Nicola married Jimmy King in 2010, and their relationship has been a central part of the soap for years.