Emmerdale actor Ned Porteous has teased a Tate family return as he’d love to “bring old faces back” amid Joe Tate’s deadly plan being exposed.

Ned returned to fulfil the role of Joe Tate in 2024 on the ITV soap as he was revealed to be behind Will Taylor’s revenge plan for Kim Tate. Since then, he’s struck up an affair with married Dawn Taylor and has been revealed to have “chronic kidney disease”.

While sat there, they spoke about Joe’s next target for a match after he had hoped that half-brother Noah Dingle would be a suitable candidate. It turned out that Joe had spiked Noah, which led to him standing in the middle of the road and thus the cause of the Valentine’s limo crash that killed three villagers.

Speaking to Manchester Evening News and other press, Ned revealed if he thought Joe trying to connect with Noah was genuine, as he said: “I like to believe that Joe’s feelings for Noah are genuine, but it’s tricky to prove that when he’s also capable of doing such mean things, but you will all see what happens. If you just keep watching. Family is very important to him.”

Joe tried to get close to half-brother Noah(Image: ITV)

Now, Joe has his sights set on another family member – Caleb Milligan. Joe turned out to be Manpreet’s blackmailer – and while Manpreet is none the wiser, he did convince her to get a sample of Caleb’s blood.

Joe claimed that he had Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency, and it was passed down from Frank. He told Manpreet he was worried that Caleb would also be suffering from the same fate.

In released spoilers, the flashforward of Caleb flatlining in hospital is due to take place on Thursday 27th March the transplant takes place.

After Joe tries to get his accomplice Gina to drug Caleb, he resorts to violence when she fails. Instead, he instructs Shaun to stab him and steal his car. Joe then takes the seriously injured Caleb swiftly to a private surgery where Dr Crowley awaits. Crowley balks at the situation – this is not what he signed up to and worries he can’t save Caleb as the stabbing is too severe.

The situation worsens as Caleb begins to flatline on the operating table, and Dr. Crowley works feverishly to try and bring Caleb back to life.

With Ned previously referring to family as important to Joe, he added: “Hell yeah, let’s go Team Tate. I’m all about that. I’d love to see the Tate family grow. I’d love to see them bring old faces back. Or new arrivals – Let’s go Team Tate.” when asked if he’d want to see the Tate dynasty expand in the Dales.

Joe and Kim have struggled to see eye to eye(Image: ITV)

The original family consisted of Frank Tate, his children Chris and Zoe, and his second wife Kim. However, the only family members currently living in the village are Frank’s widow Kim, his long-lost son Caleb Miligan and Caleb’s wife Ruby Fox-Miligan, as well as Frank’s grandchildren Stephanie Miligan, Joe Tate and Noah Dingle.

On Joe’s relationship with Kim Tate, Ned added: “I think it’s hard to say. I think there’s some clear bad blood. I mean if we remember Kim was actually behind the potential hit on Joe years and years ago. So obviously there’s some tension there. I know that it was said earlier in an episode that he forgives her for it, but I think it’s wise to assume that maybe there is somewhat of a grudge still held there.

“However, despite this, I think the overriding feeling is that of respect. I think Joe sees Kim as the powerful businesswoman that she is and there’s definitely an element of respect in that relationship. I think it’s a keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, type of situation.”

When asked if a big Dingle vs Milligan show down can be expected to happen, Ned said: “I think you can always expect a showdown in this show. I think it would be really exciting to see a big clash of these, you know, Titan families in the show.

“I’d like to see a big bust up between the Dingles, the Milligans, the Tates, you know, I think I think the fans would like to see that as well. It is boring to see a show where everyone’s getting on.”