Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale star Dean Andrews has left the soap after nearly six years in the role of Will Taylor.
The actor's final scenes aired in the ITV soap's Boxing Day episode, as Will was revealed to have died from a heart attack at Home Farm.
Will had suffered agonising chest pains in the show's Christmas Day cliffhanger. He became unwell amid a furious row with his wife Kim over his recent revenge plans, which Joe Tate had exposed.
With tensions running so high, Kim watched on sceptically as Will suffered his health scare and collapsed to the ground. She initially accused him of faking it for sympathy, then misinterpreted his symptoms as a panic attack.
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It was only when Joe returned to Home Farm that Kim finally realised Will was in desperate need of emergency medical attention.
Kim called 999, and as Will's condition rapidly worsened, she followed advice from the phone operator to try and help save his life.
Emergency services arrived at the scene and took over from Kim, but they quickly realised that there was nothing they could do for Will. In emotional scenes, he was pronounced dead.
Later, Joe covered for Kim as PC Swirling arrived at Home Farm to ask some routine questions following Will's death.
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Joe's explanation made out that there was no argument, no delay to treatment and that Will's health scare had escalated quickly – but it's unclear whether he'll now use these lies as leverage against Kim.
Dean Andrews joined the cast of Emmerdale in early 2019, when Will was introduced as the villainous father of Dawn Taylor and ex-partner of Harriet Finch.
Will's storylines later shifted to Home Farm when he started a relationship with Kim. The couple tied the knot in the show's 50th anniversary episodes in 2022.
Earlier this year, Dean spoke about his long-term future on the show and revealed that he might retire after finishing the role.
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In a chat back in April, the actor explained: "I definitely see Claire [King, who plays Kim] more than I see my own wife and Olivia [Bromley, who plays Dawn] more than I see my own daughters, so we are like a little family. I do feel settled here.
"When the producers initially asked me to come in and asked me how long I'd like to stay, I said, 'If I come in now, you'll have to kick me out'. I'll stay as long as they want me to stay, but how long they want to stay is up to them.
"I'm of an age now where I'm in my 60s, so I'll probably retire after this job."
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
