ITV/Comp Emmerdale Insider Share By Carena Crawford Jan 23 2026 By Carena Crawford Jan 23 2026 Paddy locks Bear up, but there's hope for his freedom next week Poor Bear's been through enough Bear Wolf Paddy Kirk Who Killed Ray? Share By Carena Crawford Jan 23 2026 By Carena Crawford Jan 23 2026 It’s pretty bleak in the world of Paddy Dingle and Bear Wolf in Emmerdale after Ray Walters’ death on Thursday (January 22). Tonight (Friday January 23) Paddy faced a massive decision: call the authorities and potentially send his dad to prison for murder. Or cover the whole thing up. Guess what he chose? But as Bear faces being locked in a room again, is there any hope? The murder clean up went wrong (Credit: ITV) Bear killed Ray in Emmerdale Flashbacks this week have told the story of Ray’s final movements. And last night we discovered he had been attacking Paddy and Dylan when Bear walked in, not dead as feared, but alive. He wanted Ray to stop, so put him in a wrestling bear hug. However he ended up squeezing the life out of him, while clearly not knowing what he was doing. article continues below Read all the latest spoilers Tonight, Bear was confused. He didn’t understand that he’d killed Ray and demanded Paddy wake him up. Paddy did try, even though it was pointless as Ray was already dead. Eventually Paddy and Dylan told Bear there was nothing they could do. As Paddy went to ring the police, Dylan stopped him. He told him Bear would be in a lot of trouble and instead they had to get rid of the body to protect Bear. Although Paddy wasn’t happy, he eventually realised Dylan was right. But with Bear wondering round in a trance with no idea what was going on, it proved tricky. Paddy and Dylan have been lying to the police for weeks (Credit: ITV) Paddy and Dylan cleaned up after Ray’s death They managed to move the body into the back of Jai’s van with the plan to take it and bury it in the woods once darkness fell. However they didn’t count on Jai driving it away. Realising there was no way back now, a montage of the last two weeks saw Paddy and Dylan agreeing to play dumb and pretend they knew nothing about any of it until others told them. That left the problem of Bear though. He couldn’t be found yet, nor could he be trusted not to reveal what he did. So they decided to lock him in a room at Paddy’s and pretend he was still missing. They even made a show of going out looking for him to fool people. Paddy has to talk to DS Walsh and pretend he knows nothing (Credit: ITV) Hope for Bear Next week Bear is still locked up. It might seem cruel, but it’s what he’s been used to recently and in a weird way might make him feel safer. That doesn’t make it feel any easier to Paddy though and when DS Walsh wants to talk to him about Bear, he panics. Eventually he realises he can’t avoid the conversation and he has to talk to her. Fronting it out, he breathes a sigh of relief when Walsh informs him they are keen to speak to Celia about Ray’s death. Realising this takes the heat off him and Bear, Paddy heads home and breaks the news to Dylan. They dare to hope this nightmare will soon be over. But with Bear still locked away and still desperately mentally unwell, until he gets the help he needs, things are likely to only get more complicated. Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale? All the cast exits, arrivals and returns Share Good to Know Share By Carena Crawford Jan 23 2026 By Carena Crawford Jan 23 2026 Next Story
