Emmerdale star drops huge return hint after double exit as reunion 'sealed'

Lewis Cope has admitted he will "never say never" when it comes to a return to Emmerdale. The 30-year-old actor is currently dazzling audiences on Strictly Come Dancing, performing alongside professional dancer Katya Jones. Prior to his Strictly success, Lewis was best known for his role as Nicky Miligan on Emmerdale, making his debut in late 2022. Nicky was introduced alongside his father, Caleb Miligan (Will Ash), before being joined by Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly).

After less than two years on the soap, it was announced that Lewis would be leaving the role of Nicky. The character made his final appearance in Emmerdale in July 2024, departing the village alongside his boyfriend, Suni Sharma (Brahmdeo Shannon Raman). Opening up about the possibility of Nicky returning to the village, Lewis told Express Online: "Nicky can come back at any point. His family are still there. It was a brilliant job for me. I loved being there. Everyone was so lovely and they've been so supportive on this as well. You never know what's going to happen in the future. Never say never."

If Nicky returns to the village, he will reunite with his on-screen parents and his sister Steph (Georgia Jay), who made her debut months after Nicky's exit. Steph recently announced she was going travelling. In reality, Georgia left the soap to go on maternity leave.

Since his debut on the dancefloor, Lewis has delivered consistently strong performances, maintaining a spot at the top end of the leaderboard for the past four weeks.

In week three, Lewis Cope and Katya closed the show with a Paso Doble to The Plaza of Execution from The Mask of Zorro, earning a perfect 10 from judge Motsi Mabuse

Speaking at the Pride of Britain awards, Lewis explained that he doesn't focus on impressing the judges but instead, he and his dance partner are simply putting in the work and training hard each day.

He confessed: "I don't even think of the judges. We're just working every single day and training as hard as we can and then what will be will be on a Saturday."

"But it was unbelievable. I was speechless and that takes quite a lot," he said of receiving the 10.

Lewis admitted he has never worked harder than he is now due to the intense schedule, but insisted that the effort is well worth it.

He added: "This is the hardest I've ever worked in my life, in terms of the one on one hours that you actually have to physically do. on one It's the hardest I've worked in my life but equally the reward is worth it."

Nicky will be hoping to impress the judges once again and avoid the same fate as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who became the fourth star axed from the show last weekend.

The former footballer and his dance partner Lauren Oakley were booted from the BBC dance competition after landing in the dance-off against Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin.