Has John left Emmerdale? Fans 'can't believe it' as they 'rumble' unaired twist

Viewers certainly had a thing or two to say about Emmerdale's latest episode, that appeared to confirm an exit for John Sugden.

While we knew that Oliver Farnworth was leaving the role of killer John, no details specified when or how the villain would leave. But this week deadly scenes saw John's plan to escape the country thwarted by Cain Dingle.

Cain wanted to avenge his son Nate Robinson's murder at the hands of John, and he threatened the latter with a shotgun. Cain's brother Caleb Miligan feared the repercussions though, especially after John threatened to expose the truth surrounding Anthony Fox's murder.

With an email scheduled to the police exposing the crime and who was involved, Caleb took action to ensure John deleted said email. He ended up attacking his own brother Cain to stop him from shooting John, and then helped John flee the scene.

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He betrayed his brother to ensure he and his family all stayed out of prison, knowing that if he helped John then John would cancel the email send and would keep their secret. By the end of the episode Caleb was shielding John, and preparing to help drive him away in his van.

John kept his word, telling Caleb he would delete the scheduled email and showing him doing so. He then gave Caleb a note which appeared to confirm the location of Anthony's body, telling Caleb he needed to trust him.

Soon Caleb was shown driving away with John in the van, and it appeared he'd helped him flee - signalling an exit from the ITV soap. This is yet to be officially confirmed but it was certainly hinted that this was it for John, leaving fans puzzled and some admitting they "couldn't believe it".

Some fans guessed there was more to it and this wasn't it for the baddie. Others were shocked at the end of the episode, fearing John would get away without justice.

One fan posted on X: "So, do we really believe that's it with John? I see the big showdown tomorrow. Caleb will turn round and bring him back to the village, maybe even for a last scene with Aaron or Robert or quite sure Cain."

Another fan agreed: "Thursday is usually when they save the big stuff for," as a further tweet read: "Deffo not. There’s more in store they wouldn’t just end it in the middle of the week. Now he’s deleted the email they can do what they want with him."

One fan feared: "Can’t believe this is how John leaves," as another said: "I hope there are more twists tomorrow because John can't get away with this! He's a sick, twisted narcissist & he deserves to pay for everything he did!"

Echoing this another fan said: "The ending of John’s storyline is actually so sloppy because why is he not dead there better be another twist tomorrow night."

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and Threads.