Matthew King (Emmerdale)
Matthew King is a fictional character portrayed by Matt Healy on the soap opera Emmerdale.
About Matthew
Ever since the King family arrived in March 2004, Matthew has remained the most calculating and scheming of his dysfunctional clan. The middle son of business supremo Tom King, Matthew has a much darker side than brothers Jimmy and Carl.
Matthew's hearless nature was shown when Carl was involved in the accidental death of postman Paul Marsden. Matthew dealt with the tragic incident with bone-chilling coldness.
Having moved the body and covered up Carl’s involvement, Matthew then conned Paul’s widow Siobhan into selling her his cottage at a knockdown price before chasing her out of the village. The duplicitous way he treated Siobhan is characteristic of Matthew.
Although his elder brother Jimmy should be in line to inherit their father’s business, Matthew has worked tirelessly to ensure Tom leaves it to him instead. The rivalry between the two brothers has turned nasty on more than one occasion - and Matthew’s never happier than when bumbling Jimmy is making yet another mistake.
And it’s not just people who get in the way of his business interests who’ve suffered at mean Matthew’s hands.
At the funeral of one of Tom’s closest friends, Matthew bedded the deceased’s daughter before using squeeze Sian to make his next conquest Louise Appleton jealous. What Matthew wants, he gets, and it took him very little time to convince Louise she should end her relationship with loyal boyfriend Terry and spark up a passionate affair with him.
However, as soon as Louise ditched Terry for him, Matthew began mistreating Louise. He told her that their fling was over after having allowed Louise to lose everything. This is a typical example of the psychological abuse which Matthew is capable of.
But while Matthew seemed hard-hearted towards all his women, there was one who he truly loved. It transpired that, years previously, Matthew had been sleeping with Jimmy's wife Sadie behind her unsuspecting husband's back and that she’d only married the elder King because she thought he would inherit Tom's estate. Thrown together in the business, Matthew and Sadie rekindled their passion and were soon embroiled in a steamy affair.
Matthew's first love, however, is money and power and when Matthew's dad Tom forced him to choose between Sadie and the business, he chose the latter. In doing so, Tom had wrecked Matthew's life and split him up from his one truen love. Although he tried to throw himself into his work, Matthew couldn’t forget Sadie and was horrified to receive an invitation to her forthcoming wedding.
Reluctant to allow Sadie to marry Alisdair Sincliar, Matthew finally confronted his feelings for Sadie and interrupted her wedding. Matthew dashed to the church to try and stop them from becoming man and wife.
Unfortunately, they had already married when Matthew arrived. But he did persuade the bride to ditch her new husband within minutes of having married Alisdair and start a new life with him instead. Consequently, Tom disowned Matthew. However, life without money and power didn’t suit either Matthew or Sadie and they soon started plotting to run a new company together.
Knowing that Jimmy was desperate to strike a deal with rival Don Clough, who was selling off his company, Matthew leaked false information via his trusting brother Carl. The scheme worked and Matthew triumphed over his estranged family – but lost the trust of his younger sibling.
Although he tried to hide it, Carl’s decision to cut him out of his life deeply wounded Matthew – who’d already suffered terrible grief by losing his youngest sibling Max in a tragic accident the year before.
After Matthew discovered that Sadie caused the show home collapse (which tragically claimed the lives of several Emmerdale residents and landed Jimmy in hospital), he was furious. Matthew was even more horrified to discover that in the wreckage following the disaster, Sadie had bashed ex-husband Jimmy over the head with a brick. As a result, Matthew told Sadie that it was over and was thus welcomed back into his family.
Matthew took a keen interest in Perdita Hyde-Sinclair, having slept with her in his office during the Home Farm ball. He began to rely on Perdy, who recently provided him with information about Matthew's hated stepmother, Rosemary King.
When Tom was brutally murdered on Christmas Day 2006, Matthew suspected Rosemary of committing the crime. However, there was evidence against all three King brothers suggesting that they had killed Tom together. They were therefore charged with murder.
However, on the day of their trial, which collapsed due to lack of evidence, Matthew was shocked to discover that Carl was behind Tom's demise and that Jimmy knew that Carl was responsible. Matthew was devastated.
Family
- Father: Tom King (deceased)
- Mother: Mary King (deceased)
- Brothers: Jimmy King, Carl King, Max King (deceased)
- Half sister: Scarlett Nicholls
- Nephew: Thomas King
- Niece: Anya King,