In upcoming scenes, the hit ITV soap will air a stylised episode focused upon Belle and the domestic abuse she’s been suffering at the

hands of her evil husband Tom in a special hour-long episode on Thursday. However, away from the village, Tom actor James couldn’t be more different to his villainous character.

Taking to Instagram, the soap star has been giving fans a rare insight into his life away from the hit ITV soap. In a recent Instagram snap, James shared a collection of behind-the-scenes snaps from the harrowing Wales episode with Tom and Belle earlier this year. Soap

watchers will recall that Tom’s behaviour got even more worrying as he isolated Belle in a cottage in Wales to which she thankfully managed to escape with dog Piper.

Posting BTS snaps from the filming, James penned: “Behind the scenes from the Wales episode. So proud of everyone who had a part in the creation of this unique and intense episode of @emmerdale. Here’s some highlights from the week we made it.”

In one snap it sees James posing with smiling co-star Eden and their then on-screen dog Piper while another photo sees the actor showing off a fake injury created by the soap’s makeup team for the filming. Elsewhere, other snaps see members of the filming crew on set and various props used for the episodes.

James’ co-stars were quick to comment on the post as Eden penned: “special week W special people” with a heart, Jacob Gallagher star Joe-Warren Plant wrote: “Such a great episode! Top performances from you both x” while Vanessa Woodfield star Michelle Hardwick added: “Ahh love this! What an episode! You were both terrific.”

In another post, James gave a look at a recent soap event, where he posed for photos with fellow soap villain Coronation Street’s Joel Deering star Calum Lill. The actor penned: “Had a brilliant time at the @radiotimes #Soapawards with the @emmerdale gang. Congratulations to everyone who won!” to which Corrie’s Joel star Calum commented: “The Blue Chequered Villains… surely a series pending.”

Elsewhere, in a post earlier this year, James posed with Vinny Dingle star Bradley Johnson after an episode where Tom attacked Vinny. The actor penned alongside the post, which also included a snap of the duo drinking Guinness: “We’re good pals in real life just so you know.”