Emmerdale left viewers with their jaws on the floor with a shock twist in yesterday’s episode, but for some dedicated fans, the retcon didn’t quite add up.

A flashback at the end of the episode revealed that in 1999, Kim Tate (Claire King) had secretly given birth to a daughter, who she put up for adoption.

It transpired that her daughter was actually DS Thea Ramsden (Chelsea Edge), who spent most of yesterday’s episode grilling Kim in the interrogation room.

Kim is currently a suspect in Jimmy King and Dawn Taylor’s deaths – but this isn’t her first brush in the law.

When Kim left the Emmerdale village in 1998, she was on the run from police after letting her then husband Steve Marchant take the fall for a hit-and-run.

With this in mind, Emmerdale fans understandably began to question why Kim would have returned to Hotten General to give birth, knowing the police were looking for her.

Kim fled Emmerdale in Jan 99. Why would a fugitive come back to Hotten General to give birth? The poster advertises a 4 Sept 99 event, the baby is premature, and Kim isn’t in a hospital gown. Doesn’t add up. Maybe it’s not Kim’s baby at all. But whose is it? #Anthea pic.twitter.com/R6rcaQafPn

— Victoria Woodhull (@senecaco) September 1, 2026

‘I don’t understand why Kim would commit attempted murder on Chris with a paperweight, get in a helicopter to go all the way to Hotten General when she was wanted by the police for a robbery, surely the nurses would have knew and reported her,’ one fan wrote on Reddit.

Another fan took to Twitter/X with a similar point, even speculating that perhaps Thea wasn’t Kim’s baby after all.

The revelation that Kim gave a daughter up for adoption came as a huge shock to many, including actress Claire King herself.

‘I think it surprised me that she had a daughter! I didn’t know that. I don’t think anybody knew that! That surprised me.’

Speaking about casting her mind back to 1999 to work out who Thea’s father may be, she added: ‘I was thinking, “Okay, so it could be so-and-so’s, and it could be so-and-so’s,” because it was just after I’d left the first time, so we’re talking about the turn of the century because [Thea]’s about 26.

‘It was just after Kim left in the helicopter, so you’ve got to put two and two together and see who you come up with.’


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