If Dawn and Joe made the audience cry, Nicola King and Laurel Thomas made the whole Emmerdale village “explode” with a tense confrontation.

The two best friends – who had gone through many storms together – are now no different from two sworn enemies.

The source of the incident began when Laurel accidentally discovered that Nicola had hidden a shady investment fund and lied about donating to charity.

Laurel, who is a principled person, decided to tell the truth at a meeting in the Woolpack.

But she did not expect that her action would trigger a real explosion of drama.

In front of the villagers, Nicola shouted: “Who do you think you are to judge me?” and suddenly slapped Laurel straight in the face. The sound made the whole pub fall silent. Laurel stood still, holding her cheek, tears streaming down her face but still kept her composure: “You are no longer the person I used to know, Nicola.”

The atmosphere in the bar became stifling. Nicola’s husband Jimmy rushed to pull his wife out, but she still struggled, threw her glass of wine on the ground, and screamed: “She’s always wanted to bring me down! All these years, I’ve been her shadow!”

According to Digital Spy, this will be a big turning point in the Laurel – Nicola relationship. Producers confirmed that “this feud will last for weeks”, with unexpected retaliations: Laurel may reveal more secrets that will discredit Nicola, and Nicola is planning to make Laurel’s life “ruined”.