ITV Emmerdale slapped with trigger warning over ‘distressing’ themes amid latest missing teenager storyline
ITV soap Emmerdale has been slapped with a trigger warning for Wednesday’s episode amid a harrowing plot as fans witness the aftermath of troubled teenager April Windsor (played by Amelia Flanagan) returning home.
April went missing on Christmas Day, and over the past month, viewers have seen the youngster sleeping rough. It was revealed this week she had been pregnant before tragically enduring a stillbirth.
In heartbreaking scenes, the 15-year-old said she was sorry to her baby before Tuesday’s episode ended.
Fans were devastated by the scenes, and ahead of the upcoming episode on Wednesday, ITV has shared a message on its streaming site as well as social media pages, warning viewers about the episode’s content.
The ITV site reads: “With scenes of medical distress and themes of self-harm and abuse.”
Meanwhile, Mark Charnock, who plays April’s dad Marlon Dingle, recently detailed how April’s return to the village isn’t as joyous as it should be.
“It’s not straightforward; it’s almost being like missing in your house. The old them has gone,” he explained.
Speaking to The Mirror, he continued: “They’re all treading on eggshells – it’s not just Marlon – and I was saying before, it’s like they’ve been searching this human haystack and now they’ve got the needle back, it’s just a different being, with different reference points and a different attitude.”
Fans are now theorising who the father of April’s baby could have been, with her final scenes before she disappeared seeing her jumping into the back of a car, but no further clues as to where she has been or who she has been with.
It’s not the first time the soap has aired distressing scenes, but it seems ITV may have neglected to provide enough of a warning in a storyline from last year which sparked floods of complaints.
Last year, the soap was met with an outraged reaction to a storyline involving the abuse of a beloved pet dog, Piper.
in August, many decided it was the final straw and chose to “boycott” the long-running programme over a distressing turn the plot took.
The sickening plot involved the evil character Tom King (James Chase) and Piper, the pet dog of his estranged wife Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper).
King was controlling and manipulative towards his ex and sometimes took to harming the poor animal in a sick attempt to hurt her.
The character decided to harm the dog once again recently in an attempt to insert himself back into his ex’s life.
After he deliberately ran over Piper, viewers were left even more disturbed when he later administered a fatal injection to the pooch, prompting Dingle to bid a final and heartbreaking farewell to her dog.
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Moments from April’s heartbreaking story 💔
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— Emmerdale (@emmerdale) February 4, 2025
Responding to the brutal story, many took to social media to admit they would be taking a break from the soap.
On X, several were in agreement that the plot had gone too far, including one person who fumed: “I understand they want to highlight abuse, but they’ve involved Piper TOO MANY times now.
“We know it’s not real, but it’s hard enough to watch. The story should have been done when Belle came to her senses, this is becoming an animal abuse storyline #Emmerdale.” (sic)