The mysterious body below the ice in Emmerdale was revealed to be that of Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter) back in February.

When Amy Wyatt (Natalie Ann Jamieson) fell through the ice and found herself fighting for her life in the icy waters, her horror was compounded by the fact that she wasn’t alone.

Floating nearby was the lifeless body of someone, and the only clue we had initially was a tell-tale bracelet on their wrist.

Eagle-eyed fans spotted that the bracelet was eerily similar to the one that Nate Robinson was wearing before he left the village, and it turns out that the dead body is indeed that of Nate.

Who was Nate Robinson?

Nate is the son of Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), although Cain never knew of Nate’s existence until his arrival in the village in 2019.

Nate believed that Cain had abandoned him and his mother, and set out to take revenge against his father by having an affair with Moira (Natalie J. Robb) – who was obviously unaware that she was sleeping with her step-son at the time.

When Cain discovered the affair he staged a showdown with Nate and Moira in a boat – which then exploded. Nate unexpectedly called Cain ‘Dad,’ which was the first time Cain had any inkling that Nate could be his son.

Despite this dramatic start to their relationship, eventually Cain and Nate were reconciled.

Nate pursued a relationship with Tracy Metcalfe (Amy Walsh), and she became pregnant with their daughter, Frankie. Tracy left the village in 2022 with Frankie, but returned again in July 2023.

It was revealed that she and Nate had been seeing each other again and they were married in what was supposed to be a secret wedding.

What happened to Nate Robinson?

After Tracy had an affair with Caleb Miligan (William Ash), Nate and Tracy’s marriage broke down again and Tracy asked for a divorce. Nate was devastated about the affair and also about the breakdown of his relationship.

After a while they seemed to have repaired things, but a false accusation from Cain that Nate was having an affair with Moira again destroyed things, as Tracy believed Cain and Nate was shattered by her lack of trust in him.

Subsequently Nate announced that he’d taken a job in Shetland and left the village.

When did we last see Nate alive?

Nate left the soap in September 2024 – but his exit left a lot of fans feeling there were some unanswered questions about the way he apparently just vanished.

Jurell Carter took to social media to confirm that he had, indeed, left and his final scenes had aired. ‘I’m excited for my future but I’m also sad to be leaving behind such a beautiful show and beautiful people,’ he said.

In the days following Nate’s departure from the show there was a fire at Butlers and fans wondered whether Nate would be caught up in that. Basically, there was a sense that there was more to his exit than simply ‘going to Shetland’ – which turned out to be true.

How did Nate’s body get into the lake?

We learnt in April that John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) killed Nate last year, and then disposed of his body in the lake.

In an episode that featured flashback scenes, it was established that John lives with a hero complex. He orchestrates terrible situations and then steps in to fix them, looking like a great person in front of the Emmerdale residents.

When it comes to Nate, John attempted to help him after he was attacked by Cain. He gave Nate some medication but he reacted badly to it, leading to his death.

It’s only been in recent weeks that Tracy has started to accept it’s awfully strange of Nate to cut ties with his family in the Dales. She has expressed her thoughts to Cain, who has now decided to go to Shetland to find Nate.

However, the family will certainly have a mystery on their hands when Cain gets back and inevitably reveals Nate is nowhere to be seen.

What has Oliver Farnworth said about this storyline?

Teasing what’s ahead, Oliver revealed: ‘There’s lots of big stuff coming up. I guess with the sort of web that John’s woven for himself in the back of his mind, he’s anticipating people to start being suspicious, secrets to come out and people to start finding things out.

‘He’s probably got a few set pieces prepared in his mind for dealing with all of this, but really what he’s had to do so far is just kind of think on his feet and adapt to situations around him.

‘I’m sure this will all change soon. And the jeopardy at stake for him now is that he’s got his whole life in Emmerdale village.

‘He’s got the love of his life, Aaron, he’s got a family that he never had. He does not want to lose all that, under any circumstances. There’s going to be a few battles ahead, I think.’