EMMERDALE has dropped the first hint about Tracy Dingle’s exit storyline as actress Amy Walsh heads off on maternity leave.

The actress is expecting her second baby with husband Toby-Alexander Smith.

Viewers have been waiting for news of how Tracy will leave the village for months but now the first details have been revealed.

New spoilers for next week have revealed that Tracy has been keeping a secret from her sister Vanessa after the trauma of the last year.

She was left broken when it emerged that husband Nate had been murdered by John Sugden.

And now it will be revealed that she has been planning to temporarily move away for a fresh start.

However she causes chaos when she fails to tell her sister about her plans.

Instead when Vanessa overhears Tracy talking about ‘arranging a date’ with Billy Fletcher, she jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Assuming her sister is ready to move on from what happened with Nate, Vanessa gushes with excitement and Tracy lets her believe it.

So when Vanessa then runs into Billy later and talks about his upcoming romantic date, she’s stunned when he puts her in the picture of what is really going on.

A furious Vanessa rounds on her sister but will be left stunned when Tracy confesses the truth.

Eventually Vanessa sees that Tracy needs time away from the village – and gives her her blessing.

Actress Amy finished filming on the soap last month ahead of her maternity leave.

She revealed last year how she and her husband are expecting a baby girl to go with elder daughter Bonnie.

The soap stars first met in 2019 while in the audience of Strictly Come Dancing and quickly moved in together ahead of the coronavirus pandemic.