SOAP STAR ON
As Emmerdale’s Belle Dingle ties the knot with Tom King tonight in an hour-long special, Eden Draper-taylor insists she won’t be following in her character’s footsteps. Eden, who joined the soap 18 years ago to play Belle when she was eight, has just moved in with Ed Lewis, who she has been dating since 2016.
Her 108,000 Instagram followers get regular updates on the happy couple’s travels – to places including Austria, Italy and Croatia.
But she reveals that her mum is more like Belle – who asked Tom (James Chase) to marry her at Christmas – when it comes to popping the question.
Eden, 26, says: “My boyfriend and I are happy. We live together now and he is very supportive of my role in Emmerdale.
“Stereotypically, it’s the guy who tends to get down on one knee and getting married is all Belle has ever wanted, which is why she proposed.
“But no, I won’t be proposing if
I ever marry – even though my mum did!”
She explains: “Dad kept asking mum for ages to marry him, but she kept saying ‘no, not yet’.
“Then, when she realised he had stopped asking her, she was like ‘oh no, what do I do?’ So, she asked him on New Year’s Eve. It was so cool that she did.”
Like her parents – and the Dingles – Eden, who is one of five children, would love a big family one day.
She says: “I am one of five and I love it. I love the chaos!”
Since taking over the role of Belle from twins Emily and James Mather in 2005, Eden has been at the heart of lots of big storylines. In 2014, Belle accidentally killed her best friend, Gemma Andrews, during a row over a boy. After serving time for manslaughter, she suffered mental health problems and later became a successful businesswoman.
And in tonight’s wedding – which will, in true soap style, run far from smoothly – there will be signs of darker times ahead. Tom’s controlling behaviour will start to rear its ugly head with Belle, at one point, even wondering whether he will turn up to their wedding.
Viewers first caught a glimpse of Tom’s nature last November when he angrily pushed Belle to the ground in a rage, an incident she kept secret from her family.
And on her wedding day, it becomes clear he has no qualms about trying to emotionally manipulate her again.
Eden says: “A lot happens at the recep
tion. I won’t say what, but I think that does change things a bit, as she can tell he’s getting annoyed about little things.
“I think she is just saying to herself ‘it is fine, it’s fine,’ and then, right at the end of the day, something happens that just makes her think, ‘have I done the right thing? Is this the right man for me?’”