A double death shock aired on Emmerdale on New Year’s Day, as a villain was killed off amid news of another character dying.

Warning, contains spoilers from Thursday’s episode. Ray Walters appeared to murder his evil mum Celia Daniels, bringing her reign of terror to an end. It came after his confession that he’d spared teen April Windsor from the gruesome fate planned.

He was left distressed though when a death was announced. Celia, before her own demise, told Ray that Bear was dead. She claimed she killed him “slowly”, and that he was in pain.

We didn’t see Bear onscreen after her initial threat days earlier. Now his absence may have been explained, as Celia wasted no time in sharing the grim details with Ray about how Bear apparently lost his life.

She mocked him for crying, as he wept over his pal’s revealed demise. Later, he got his revenge when he pretended to hug Celia, only to attack her.

Celia gasped before telling her son she was proud of him. With that, she stopped talking and moving and fell to the floor, appearing lifeless.

It seems as though she is dead, while Friday’s episode will no doubt confirm this. As for Bear’s sad demise, as claimed by Celia, it’s yet to be revealed what she did to Bear, and if anyone will find out.

Celia had said to Ray she had made sacrifices to save them from being exposed. As Ray told Celia he didn’t want Bear to be killed, she said: “No he’s not going to die… because he is already dead.”

She detailed: “I know he’d like me to tell you it was painless, but it wasn’t. It was slow. I watched him gasping for breath as he begged me to help him. At least one of us still has the stomach for this game.”

As Ray sobbed for his friend, he later pretended he understood his mother’s reminder that “they are on the same side”, amid their plan to flee the village. As she talked of throwing her arms around him whenever he was sad or scared, she told him to hug her.

During the embrace Ray told her: “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” before suddenly Celia was shown gasping and jolting slightly. The camera appeared to show a knife missing from the block, and with Celia dropping to the ground it’s safe to assume she’s gone.

It comes after reports recently that actress Jaye Griffiths had filmed her final scenes after she confirmed an exit. Speaking to The Mirror and other press, Jaye admitted that due to the nature of Celia’s dark storyline, the villain would not be on the show forever, hinting that exit was soon to air.