The Rumour ending explained: Who is Sally McGowan revealed to be?

Spreading the gossip to the ultimate rumour mill (the schoolyard mums), things quickly spiralled out of control – with murders, vandalism and kidnapping taking over.

So, what is the truth? Here’s what you need to know as The Rumour comes to a dramatic end.

The Rumour ending explained: Who was Sally McGowan?

When the rumour began to spread, the first major suspect to be Sally McGowan was Sonia, Joanna’s stand-offish next door neighbour. Joanna fuelled this by sharing Sonia had a tattoo, and her last known address was a rehab.

Things get so intense that Sonia’s shop is vandalised, prompting Sonia to viciously blame Joanna for spreading the rumour (though notably, not denying it). When a reporter breaks the news, a mob turns up at her door.

However, suspicion on Sonia is stopped quickly when she’s found dead on Halloween by Alfie while trick or treating with his mates. While it’s initially believed to be a suicide, things spiral out of control when police confirm they’re treating it as a murder.

But this does nothing but grow Joanna’s obsession with finding Sally’s identity, moving her focus to Kay, another woman in town, even cornering her with allegations – but she also isn’t Sally, and is almost killed as well.

Even when Joanna’s faced with threatening messages, and being fired from her job, she continues to dig. Ex Michael (Samuel Anderson) and mum Bea (Joanne Whalley) try to stop her, but it falls on deaf ears.

Next suspect is her mum’s partner, Liz (Ellie Haddington), after finding out about a prison painting that’s similar in style to her work as an artist. Believing the painting holds the answers, she tries to track it down.

She does finally get her answer – though it’s nothing like she imagined. When she finally gets hold of the painting, Joanna realises the signature’s handwriting is of her own mother, Bea.

At one point, Joanna even went by a different name: Lucy.

At the beginning of the finale episode, Joanna confronts her mum – and Bea confirms that she is, in fact, Sally McGowan… but she didn’t kill Sonia, and didn’t attempt to kill Kay.

Who killed Sonia?

From the second the rumour mill started, someone was clearly up to no good– starting with a sinister ‘rumours kill’ message on Joanna’s garage door, and then tipping off the journalist.

But it seems there was more than one person keeping a secret in town – and it’s revealed in the final episode that Joanna’s friend and confidante Rachel (Lucy Speed) is actually the sister of Robbie, the little boy Bea killed all those years ago.

Knowing Joanna couldn’t let it go, Rachel had befriended her to hear her theories and thoughts, and then acted upon that information in horrific ways.

Rachel killed Sonia by putting a bag over her head, and then filled Kay’s house with gas to suffocate her.

Discovering the truth – that it was Bea all along – Rachel had kidnapped Joanna’s son Alfie, and then called Bea threatening the young boy’s life, luring her to a woodland cabin she had previously shown Joanna.

How does The Rumour end?

As Bea arrived at the cabin, Joanna frantically called her wanting to know where she was – and instead of telling her, she just assured her that she would "make everything alright".

She then met with Rachel, who had doused the cabin in petrol and knocked out Alfie with a sedative. Threatening to set the place ablaze, she commands Bea to sit down, sharing that she had been searching for her for her entire life, under the instruction of her mother, who only had her to replace Robbie after his death.

Despite Bea’s apologies, Rachel sets up a camera and demands she make a confession, explaining fully why she decided to kill Robbie, admitting that she’s evil, before killing herself and Alfie.

Thanks to one of the mums, Joanna realises she’s heading to the cabin and makes a dash for it. Sneaking into the cabin, Bea spots her and starts to deliberately antagonise Lucy, prompting her to lunge at her and start the fire.

As the pair fight, Joanna’s frozen in fear at the fire, her worst nightmare coming true. But she comes to, and makes it out of the cabin with Alfie before the entire thing collapses – her mum and Rachel still inside.

The next day, as the gossip mill continues around the town now that the truth is out, Joanna and Michael, now reconciled, pack up and leave with Alfie, ready for a completely fresh start.

Bea, who has survived, is seen living with Liz in a different country.

The Rumour is available in full now on 5.

Add The Rumour to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.