It’s not been a good week for Joe Tate in Emmerdale, as Dawn Taylor rejected his marriage proposal in the latest episode.

Just days after him being kicked out from Home Farm by a grieving Kim Tate, his hopes to move forward with Dawn ended with embarrassment. After asking her to marry him in a public proposal outside the pub, he didn’t get the answer he was hoping for.

Instead, an awkward Dawn confessed she couldn’t marry him and soon left. Joe remained on one knee, looking pretty sad as characters including Aaron Dingle and Robert Sugden mocked his misfortune.

But actor Ned Porteous who plays Joe has teased it’s not all doom and gloom this Christmas. He revealed there’s some “happy news” for the character on the way, in the fallout to Dawn’s rejection.

He teased: “It’s going to be a different Christmas for Joe. I think he’s probably gutted about the fact he’s annoyed Kim. But at the time he believed he was doing the right thing, as Joe always does.

“Let’s just hope that he can win her around in the New Year. Christmas is a strange one for Joe. Not only does he end up spending it somewhere a little different this year, that’s a tease as he’s out of his comfort zone for sure, but this Christmas there is also a nice happy piece of news for him.”

He didn’t reveal what the news was so fans will have to keep their eyes peeled. Ned also shared what it was like filming the festive episodes back in October.

He said: “It always does [feel strange], especially when we have a very warm October and we’re all trying to get all wrapped up and we’re all beading with sweat out in the village. But then again, it then works the same way the next year when we’re all trying to pretend to be all nice and warm and it’s absolutely freezing. Yeah. What a nightmare.

“I do love Christmas. I worry sometimes that I come across as a Scrooge, because although I like to enjoy Christmas for about two to three weeks. I’m not one of those let’s put the Christmas tree up in late October, kind of guys. But I do love Christmas. Who doesn’t?”

It’s safe to say Ned’s own Christmas will be different to his character’s. He shared: “I very much am looking forward to the break as I will be seeing some family members that I haven’t seen for a while. I’ll be getting to spend some time with my brother, who I don’t see that often. It’s going to be lovely. We’re going to eat lots of food, drink lots of booze, and play loads of old video games.”