Emmerdale fans blindsided as main character dies without warning in shock twist

Emmerdale fans were shocked by the unexpected death of Ethan Anderson (Emile John) during last night's episode (Tuesday, May 28).

In a tragic twist, Ethan passed away suddenly after collapsing at home ahead of his court hearing for dangerous driving.

Ethan became a pariah in the village when he left his friend Nicky Miligan (Lewis Cope) for dead after he lost control of Nicky's car and crashed it while under the influence. In a moment of madness, Ethan dragged an unconscious Nicky from the vehicle and fled the scene.

The lawyer's secret was eventually exposed and Nicky's mum Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly) hit Ethan with her car in revenge.

Ethan got swept up in more scandal when he overheard Dawn's mother Rose Jackson (Christine Tremarco) conspiring with Ruby to destroy Kim Tate (Claire King) and he realised how much this would hurt Dawn.

Ethan confronted Ruby about her scheme with Rose, but she covered in front of husband Caleb (William Ash).

Later on, Ethan opened up to his dad Charles (Kevin Mathurin) about what he should do and Charles encouraged him to tell the truth. Taking his dad's advice onboard, Ethan left Dawn a voicemail asking to talk properly.

He had a heart-to-heart with Charles about everything and how much they meant to each other as Ethan tried to prepare himself for the prospect of prison.

Charles continued their chat in the kitchen, but while he was out of the room, Ethan suddenly collapsed to the floor.

Charles and his partner doctor Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) desperately performed CPR to try and revive him, but with no success.

Ethan was rushed to hospital, meanwhile Dawn felt guilty for not responding to his message.

With Ruby responsible for the hit and run on Ethan, she looked worried about what could happen to him. 

Ethan's grandmother Claudette (Flo Wilson) spoke to Ruby as she waited for news, until a devastated Charles and Manpreet arrived home and told her that Ethan had died.

The family were distraught as Charles insisted that Ethan was murdered by the person who run him over and promised to make them pay.

Fans were gutted by Ethan's shock death and took to social media to share their disbelief...

Emmerdale continues tonight at 7:30pm on ITV1.