Emmerdale spoilers: Moira Dingle stunned as Cain reveals big secret on what has been tormenting him

Moira Dingle (Natalie J. Robb) was worried about her husband Cain (Jeff Hordley) in Tuesday (January 30)’s episode of Emmerdale.

This was understandable – not only had he recently discharged himself from hospital against doctors’ orders with bruising to his brain following a fight with Aaron (Danny Miller), but he’d also just learned that his sister Chas (Lucy Pargeter) has the same type of breast cancer that killed their mum.

There was more going on, though, and Moira wanted to know what it was. ‘I know you,’ she told her husband. His reply was puzzling: ‘You used to know me.’

That remark played on Moira’s mind and she asked him about it later. Cain is not one to open up about his feelings easily so it took a bit of an effort to crack him, but eventually he told her.

It was an emotional conversation between the couple

He said that the man Moira used to know would have sorted out Aaron Dingle without a problem – presumably rather than ending up the worse for wear after Aaron battered him. Cain said that he wasn’t the man he used to be, and in fact he wasn’t a man at all. He was a joke.

‘The real Cain Dingle is dead,’ he told his wife.

Later, Cain went out for some fresh air and saw Chas and they talked about their current lives and how they didn’t have the best start in life after being brought up by abusive Shadrach Dingle (Andy Devine) and the unreliable Faith (Sally Dexter).

Cain said they’d been ‘infected’ by their parents. Chas thought they should try to ‘break the cycle’ of terrible parents passing on problems to their children and Cain agreed that they don’t always have to be the same person.

Back at home, Cain opened up to Moira about when things had changed for him. It was the shooting of Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) and the aftermath, when he tried to protect his son Kyle (Huey Quinn) from going to prison after the boy was the one who pulled the trigger.

Cain said this was like a ‘handbrake’ to him and what was left was a ‘weak pathetic man’ he didn’t recognise or like.

What Cain sees as weakness, Moira sees as strength and she pointed out that he’d been willing to go to prison for life to protect Kyle and had made so many sacrifices for his family.

‘You have never been stronger and I have never been more prouder and more in love with you that I am right now,’ she told him.