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Emmerdale viewers appalled by Nell’s self-harm “tactic”

She cut herself after Jai asked her to move out

Emmerdale fans were left angry at last night’s episode after Nell Fairfax cut her wrists in order to win Jai Sharma back.

After the incident with the anti-depressant pills at Amba’s birthday party, Nell admitted to Jai she’s been on anti-depressants for two years. He was very supportive of her mental health battle and told her he was okay with her taking them if she needs to.

As they got all hot and heavy in the factory, Priya walked in and was shocked to see them together.

Jai spent most of the episode defending his relationship with Nell, insisting no one else could tell him what to do. But Priya was worried about her brother and asked him if it was really Nell he liked or if he was actually still getting over Holly.

Taking her words to heart, Jai decided to slow things down with Nell and had a chat with her about how quickly things were moving for them.

Read more: Aaron to take drastic action after Robert’s betrayal in Emmerdale 

“I thought you liked me?” she asked, clearly upset.

“I do, it’s just working and living together, do we really want to put that much pressure on ourselves? Your job’s safe and I’ll help you find somewhere to live.

“I just think we need to slow it down a bit, go on a few dates, leaping in feet first is not a good idea.

“It’s what I need, we both do.”

Nell agreed and left the room, but when Jai found her next, there was blood pouring down her arm and she was crying.

He saw the scissors next to her and asked: “What have you done?”

“I couldn’t help myself,” she replied as she collapsed into his arms.

Jai offered her comfort as she called herself “weak and pathetic” and Jai immediately changed his mind about her moving out and told her she could stay and to forget everything he’d earlier said.

He insisted he really liked her, “more than like” in fact and she confessed she felt the same.

Read more: Emmerdale exit for Rebecca White?

Fans were quick to vent their frustration with the show’s portrayal of self-harm on Twitter, accusing them of “glorifying” it, and making it look like a “manipulation tactic”.

With the pair loved up again and Nell not going anywhere for now, how much worse will things get?

Will she continue to use this emotional blackmail to get under Jai’s skin? And just what is her real game?


Carena Crawford
Associate Editor (Soaps)