Emmerdale star set for surprise exit – and has already filmed final scenes

Villainous Ray Walters has been involved in his fair share of dramatic storylines since his arrival in the Dales earlier this year.

Well, it's now been revealed that actor Joe Absolom will be exiting Emmerdale, bringing an end to Ray's evil rise, once and for all.

Former EastEnders actor Absolom first appeared in Emmerdale in July of this year but is already set to be making his exit, with his final scenes of Emmerdale having already been filmed. According to The Sun, the actor filmed his exit storyline last month and it is expected to unfold in the run up to the anticipated New Year's crossover episode with Coronation Street.

An Emmerdale source told The Sun: “Bosses knew they only ever had Joe for a certain amount of time, but they’ve definitely made the most of having someone of his calibre in the village.

“He filmed his final scenes back in November.”

Ray has been the villain at the heart of the county lines storyline that has unfolded in recent months, manipulating Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) and April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan), with the storyline taking an even darker turn as Ray forced April into sex work.

And whilst Ray is a dark individual, recent weeks have revealed that it was actually his adoptive mum Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) who has been pulling the strings all along.Chatting to RadioTimes.com and other media, Absolom explained: "To April and Dylan, he's at the top. But to actually most people watching him, people realize he's one of the many, one of the cogs.

"And you see above him is [Celia], who he's terrified of and attached to in a sort of maternal sense. He's very much the child and the subservient one," he added.

"Whereas with Dylan and April, he's kind of the dominator, if you like, or the driving force of most of those things. Most of my scenes are different with those two guys to what you see with [Celia], who's this very formidable, strident character."

Previously commenting on his arrival in the soap, Absolom also said: "Since I've arrived, I've been paying kids to deliver drugs, I've been delivering drugs myself, I've been pimping out other characters. And I've taught Dylan how to drive. There's a real gamut of opportunity for the Dales!"

Read more:

• Major Emmerdale character leaves after sword attack and holding three villagers hostage – but will they be back?
• Emmerdale airs huge twist as character 'returns from the dead'
• Emmerdale's Jaye Griffiths reveals future for Celia after shocking twist
• Coronation Street and Emmerdale crossover cast "lost for words" after watching "cinematic" Corriedale episode

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.

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