Emmerdale star Alexander Lincoln has enraged soap fans after hinting he might be about to make an explosive return to the show after his character, Jamie Tate, was seemingly killed off.
Last month, fans of the long-running ITV tea-time drama watched in horror as Jamie – played by 27-year-old Alexander – crashed into a lake.
Viewers watched as the silver jeep smashed through the surface of the water and slowly sank beneath the surface – with Jamie nowhere to be seen as the vehicle sank to the bottom of the water, but his body was missing from the jeep when it was later recovered.
It had been expected that Jamie had been killed off and that Alexander’s contract on Emmerdale had come to an end after two years.
But on Tuesday, the star threw fans into a frenzy when he revealed he was getting back to work on a mystery project.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Getting back to early starts on set today” – alongside a dazed-face emoji and a film camera emoji.
Fans immediately assumed the actor was making a reference to Emmerdale – and have accused him of spoiling the fact Jamie is not dead after all.
One angered fan blasted: "So Jaime isnt dead then, shock horror”.
Another “concurred: “Guessing Jamie isn’t dead then.”
While a further furious soap fan said Alexander had ruined soaps entirely for them, as they replied:”I’ve given up on soaps, the actors on socials spoil storylines too often like if they're leaving etc. What's the point if you know what's gonna happen"
Responding to the apparent backlash, Jamie himself teased that fans might be jumping to conclusions.
Replying on Twitter to one enraged follower who accused him of ruining the soap, the TV hunk wrote: “Unless it’s a different set… Have to wait and see.”
Speaking to Lorraine last year, Alex reflected on his surprise at getting cast as Jamie – and revealed he got the call to star on the ITV show while he was on his way to a job interview.
He said: "I think I was on my way to an interview for a cinema I was going to be working at.
“Then I got the call through and it was sort of shock, filled with fear, and then just happiness."
While delighted at his casting, he went on to explain he was slightly ‘frustrated’ by the early plot lines he was involved in.
He said: "I've been very fortunate with Jamie in that I've got to show so many different aspects to him, so many different dimensions.
"But yeah, he is frustrating, because he sort of is just going along with the flow – that's one of the things about Jamie, he doesn't really take action that well, and he's sort of manipulated, and yeah it can be quite frustrating."
