Emmerdale favourite Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) has sparked leaving fears amongst fans after she ended her marriage to Sam Dingle (James Hooton) and left the family home.
Lydia was left traumatised after being raped by her childhood friend Craig Reed (Ben Addis) and the businessman was mysteriously killed by someone close to Lydia after her case was dropped.
Throughout the week, an infamous Dingle court was held to find out who killed Craig as each of the family members gave their alibis with flashbacks revealing huge secrets.
A guilt-ridden Sam admitted to his wife Lydia that he was the one who killed Craig after badly beating him and abandoning him in a field earlier in the day as revenge.
Although Craig was still alive when Sam left him, he believed that he was the one who committed the crime and was arrested by the police on suspicion of murder.
However, the truth was soon exposed that Sam wasn't the killer, but it was actually Kim Tate's (Claire King) horse, Ice, who delivered the fatal blow.
After being found innocent, Sam was released from police custody and thought Lydia would be happy to see him back home.
Instead, Lydia struggled to forgive Sam for attacking Craig and revealed that she could no longer be with him.
She decided to stay at Home Farm and has refused to contact Sam ever since she moved.
Emmerdale has since aired another exit for Lydia after Kim told her that she was responsible for Craig's death.
With nothing holding her back in the village, is Lydia leaving Emmerdale?
Is Lydia leaving Emmerdale?
Sam's violence made Lydia revisit her trauma and couldn't handle being around him, so she packed her bags and told him that she needed to get away from it all.
Lydia returned after some time away from home, but left again to spend Christmas at her mum's after Kim confessed that she killed Craig.
Unable to cope with the revelation, Lydia departed the village to be with her mum, but has since made an appearance in the soap via a video call to Sam and her stepson Samson Dingle (Sam Hall).
Her emotional departure has left fans wondering whether she will be leaving the soap. But it seems to be good news for Emmerdale fans.
Neither Emmerdale or Karen have officially announced whether Lydia will be leaving the village, so it looks like she will remain in the soap for the time being albeit not as regularly as she would usually be given that she's away from home.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30 pm on ITV1, with a hour-long episode on Thursdays — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on ITVX.
