Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Draper says 'I'm nearly there' as Dingle milestone looms amid 'difficult' storyline

Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Draper has spoken out about her "difficult" upcoming scenes on the ITV show amid the coercive controlling relationship between her character Belle and Tom King.

The pair will take centre stage tomorrow night in a special episode as it all comes to head at a dinner party alongside Marlon and Rhona, viewers will get to see a different perspective on what's really going on behind closed doors.

Appearing on ITV Lorraine on Monday morning, Eden spoke about the tense upcoming scenes. She said: "It was really cool to film, you get an insight into what goes on behind closed doors, keeping up appearances vs those little snippets in the kitchen or the bathroom or the stairs and it kind of flashes from the present and what you think is happening and then what's actually going on."

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Guest host Christine Lampard said: "It's all the different view points isn't it, it's a very clever way of doing it and I think it's how the soaps like Emmerdale do these kind of storylines and issues so well, its such a sensitive story, its hugely important.

"With coercive control it can almost feel like an invisible form of abuse because suddenly you're in it and you're not quite sure why you are feeling the way you are but this person can have such a powerful and controlling hand over you."

Asked about the reaction from viewers over the storyline Eden said: "It's been amazing when you're given something like this your main aim is to raise awareness so to hear from people that have have come out of it and it's reflecting what they've been through or some people have been in touch to say this has made me think about what's going on in my relationship or my friends relationship and I think that's great, that's what it's all about.

"Emmerdale has been working with Refuge, who are an amazing charity, and what I think is really cool is every single script they go through and they have a look over and see what points were covering, what needs to be covered so it feels like when I receive that script it's what people are actually going through which I think is really important. I feel very priviliged to have been given this story."

Eden spoke about how she deals with the emotional impact of such distressing storyline. She continued: "It can be tough and it can take a toll on you even though you know its not real you are playing those emotions but I'm so focused on the moment I get home I switch off whether that's go out for a run, cook, just try and take my brain out of that environment so I feel like I've got a good routine with it."

The soap star, who has been in the Dales since she was a child went on to discuss her upcoming anniversary. Christine prompted: "You've been in the Dales for 20 years next year haven't you?"

Eden responded: "I can't believe this, I was 7 or 8 when I joined, it will be 20 years next year. The Dingles started this tradition where when you get to a big anniversary you get an engraved bracelet from the Dingle, so I really want that bracelet - there's only a few Jim, Jeff, Jane had one so I feel like I want to be in the gang, I'm nearly there!"

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.

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