Emmerdale fans were left heartbroken as beloved Sam Dingle lost his job at Home Farm after a Christmas tree theft went wrong, leaving viewers at home devastated for the character
09:41, 28 Nov 2025
Emmerdale viewers will be left gutted(Image: ITV)
Emmerdale viewers are in for a shock as a much-loved character faces the axe from their job.
In the most recent instalment of the hit ITV soap, now streaming on ITV X, Sam Dingle and Belle Dingle are desperately scrambling to scrape together cash for Lydia Dingle’s treasured Jason Donovan gig tickets.
On Wednesday’s episode, Sam concocted a scheme to nick Christmas trees from Home Farm, working out that flogging 20 trees at £50 a pop would cover the concert tickets and sort out the cottage’s dodgy electrics. As Home Farm’s gamekeeper, Sam convinced a reluctant Belle that Kim Tate and Joe Tate would be none the wiser.
But their plot came unstuck thanks to Joe himself. After turning up at Wishing Well Cottage, fretting over the vanished Christmas trees and threatening to call the cops, Joe quickly clocked some telltale greenery outside and twigged the pair were behind it.
Flipping the script on Sam, Joe called him to Home Farm where he claimed he’d already contacted the police because a flock of Crossbill birds had been roosting in the pinched trees, and their nests had been wrecked, reports the Express.
Emmerdale viewers will be left gutted after one fan favourite found themselves fired(Image: ITV)
Joe warned that these birds are legally protected, meaning whopping fines for those caught out, and potentially a six-month stretch behind bars for the tree thief.
Sam was left quaking as he owned up and grovelled, only for Joe to drop the bombshell that he’d been fibbing. Joe declared: “I know it was you, I found one of the trees in one of your outbuildings.
“What I can’t figure out is why you would steal from us, after everything that I’ve done for your family, for you, I thought that we were..”
Joe went on: “I don’t want your apologies, I want you out!” before declaring: “You’re fired!”.
Subsequently, a devastated Sam sought solace in The Woolpack alongside Belle, where he bemoaned: “I’m supposed to be the man of the house now, aren’t I? I can’t even buy my wife a couple of tickets, I can’t buy her anything!” before departing in frustration.
At that moment, Joe walked into the pub, leading Belle to berate him for dismissing Sam. Belle contended: “He made a mistake. He’s skint, okay? We’re all skint.
Playing Sam at his own game, Joe called him over to Home Farm(Image: ITV)
“We need to get the house rewired and all he was trying to do is raise a bit of money to buy Lydia these VIP Jason Donovan tickets.”
Joe justified his actions, claiming he would have loaned Sam the money had he been asked, to which Belle shot back: “He’s proud and embarrassed. Are you that rich that you can’t even understand that?”.
Proposing a remedy, Belle revealed she had a client in Manchester who owned a hotel and required Christmas trees, noting: “You’re not going to be out of pocket, are you?”.
Whether Sam will reclaim his position and if Joe will experience a change of heart remains to be witnessed….
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV and ITV X.
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