| Relationships | |
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| Parents | Tom King Mary King |
| Sibling(s) | Jimmy King Carl King Max King Georgina King Scarlett Nicholls (half) |
| Nieces and nephews | Thomas King Anya King |
| Matthew King | |||||||||
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| Emmerdale | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Matt Healy | ||||||||
| First appearance | 4 March 2004 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | December 2008 | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 July 1970 | ||||||||
| Occupation | Businessman | ||||||||
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Matthew King is a fictional character portrayed by Matt Healy on the soap opera Emmerdale.
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Ever since the King family arrived in March 2004, Matthew has remained the most calculating and scheming of his dysfunctional clan. The second son of business supremo Tom King, Matthew has always had a much darker side than his brothers.
Matthew's heartless 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 conned Paul’s widow Siobhan into selling him the cottage at a knockdown price. She then left the area with her unborn baby. The duplicitous way he treated Siobhan is characteristic of Matthew.
Although his elder brother Jimmy should have inherited their father’s business, Matthew worked tirelessly to ensure Tom left it to him instead. A task which, given Jimmy's skill for leaving a trail of clownish calamity in his path, did not prove difficult. The rivalry between them turned nasty on more than one occasion - Matthew was never happier than when Jimmy was making yet another mistake.
In later years, family loyalties began to shift, especially after Tom's death. Matthew and Carl moved further and further apart and Jimmy attempted to be peacemaker between them as well as being Matthew's closest confidant.
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 wanted, he got, and it didn't take him long to convince Louise she should end her relationship with 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.
In 2005, Matthew began a relationship with his brother's estranged wife, Sadie King. They had been together before she got together with Jimmy and their affair brought out Matthew's more vulnerable side.
Eventually he was in a position to take over his father's business empire, but Jimmy revealed the affair with Sadie. Tom forced Matthew to choose, and Matthew chose the business. However, he couldn't live without Sadie, ruining her wedding to Alasdair Sinclair by declaring his love for her. Sadie encouraged him to deceive his family to gain a lucrative contract, which led them to disown him.
After Matthew discovered that Sadie was responsible for the show home collapse (which tragically claimed the lives of several Emmerdale residents and landed Jimmy in hospital), he was furious. That was bad enough but Matthew then discovered that while in the wreckage following the disaster, Sadie had hit 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.
When Tom was murdered on Christmas Day 2006, Matthew suspected his stepmother Rosemary King 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 conspiracy to murder.
However, on the day of their trial, which collapsed due to lack of evidence, Matthew was shocked to discover Carl was behind Tom's demise and that Jimmy knew that Carl was responsible. Matthew was devastated, making it clear once more that underneath his cruel exterior, like his brothers, he was saddened by the lack of trust and closeness in their family.
Perhaps one of the most defining relationships Matthew has had was with Perdita Hyde-Sinclair. What started out as a quick fling resulted in a close friendship which deepened. Matthew took a keen interest in Perdy, having slept with her in his office during the Home Farm ball. He and Perdy began to rely on each other and she provided him with information about Rosemary. He made it clear he was interested in her but she made it clear she intended to stay with her husband, Grayson Sinclair.
Matthew became involved in Perdy's troubles after he found out Rosemary was drugging her and had her sectioned. His support of Perdy led to them growing closer but Perdy was always torn between her feelings for him and her wish to make her marriage work, especially after she discovered her surrogate mother Katie Sugden was pregnant. Matthew, totally unexpected, stunned Perdy by declaring he would wait for her and raise the baby as his own, if it meant he could be with her.[1] Perdy was thrilled and the two carried on their secret affair but Grayson found out and framed Matthew for his mother's 'murder'. Perdy found out, by discovering some implicating evidence and a letter in Grayson's briefcase, which revealed that Rosemary was in fact alive and well, staying in Miami. Perdy told Grayson she knew and blackmailed him into handing the letter in - she wouldn't reveal certain evidence that could get him in trouble if he went to the police.
She left him on Christmas Day 2007, and Matthew invited her to move in with him. However, Matthew discovered Perdy had been responsible for an accident in which Katie almost lost the baby and Grayson's attempt to frame Matthew for Rosemary's death. Matthew was so horrified that Perdy could behave like that, he threw her out and ended their relationship. When she went to see him a few days later, he claimed he'd only slept with her because he knew it would upset Grayson, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.
Some months later, when Matthew had alienated almost everyone, Jimmy reminded him about the terrible way he had treated Perdy and Matthew showed some signs of remorse. When Perdy's baby son was born (via surrogate Katie -- Perdy and Matthew delivered the baby in Matthew's car)Katie told her to take the baby and escape Grayson for ever. In a rare show of kindness, "for old time's sake", Matthew gave Perdy a cheque for £20,000, saying Katie could pay him back once she was out of hospital. Just before Perdy left, they appeared to have reached a peaceful truce after their turbulent 18 month friendship/relationship and it has been noted onscreen that the pair keep in touch after Perdy sent Matthew a letter with a picture of her and the baby enclosed.
In early 2008, Carl felt increasingly isolated in the King business and family. He decided to go to work for their chief rival, Donald De Souza. Matthew was furious, especially when Carl interfered with their efforts to win the contract for picking up garbage. One day during a golf game, Carl taunted Matthew about killing their father. Matthew put on his black gloves and when Carl was alone, beat him bloody with a golf club. Carl kept quiet about the identity of his attacker, whether out of shame, family loyalty, or other reasons. Matthew took him home from the hospital and apologized, but Carl wasn't interested.
Matthew began to take an increasingly cold approach to business, chasing away Zak Dingle, Rodney Blackstock and Jasmine Thomas for one reason or another. He blackmailed Carl's ex-flame Lexi Nicholls into getting a job at De Souza Enterprises and working her way back into Carl's bed. Lexi reluctantly gave Matthew information about Carl's upcoming project. Matthew then created the project for King Enterprises and invited Carl to the unveiling.
A disgusted Jimmy pointed out to Matthew just how many people he had alienated and how lonely he'd become. Jimmy himself was on the verge of leaving the business and family for good. Matthew sensed some truth in Jimmy's warnings, and came to an uneasy truce with Carl.
The real turning point for Matthew turned out to be his relationship with Anna De Souza. He first met the fiery businesswoman and daughter of business rival Donald De Souza after his brother Carl decided to play a trick on her, and leave her stranded in a company truck on a narrow country lane. Their first reaction was a thorny one, with Matthew annoyed that he nearly crashed into the back of the truck, and Anna warning him to back off. However, the pair soon bonded over their mutual dislike for Carl, and their similarly ambitious business style. They decided to play Carl at his own game and tricked him into believing that the truck had been impounded due to it being stolen.
It soon became clear that the two were attracted to each other, becoming friends and confidantes as well as business partners. Matthew, in particular, seemed smitten with Anna. She, however, was developing a romantic connection with Carl after their previously frosty relationship thawed. Carl was ready to leave Lexi Nicholls to be with Anna, when Lexi dropped the bombshell that her mother (Carrie Nicholls) had confided in her that it was Carl that killed his father Tom. Knowing that she knew his secret, Carl had no choice but to stay with Lexi and leave a furious Anna by the wayside.
Matthew tried to kiss Anna after the two closed a successful business deal, but she pushed him away. She told him that their relationship could only ever be a business one. When he asked her if he was supposed to hide his feelings for her, she replied that he had to if he wanted to continue to be friends and business partners with her. Matthew, however, was not to be deterred, and continued to chase Anna despite being knocked back a second time.
Meanwhile, King & Sons was in financial trouble and after taking pity on his brothers, Carl handed over one of De Souza Enterprise's richest clients to Matthew and Jimmy. When Donald learnt of Carl's actions, he had a heart attack and was hospitalised. Matthew attempted to smooth things over between the warring families suggesting it would be more beneficial to work together than against each other. Donald seemed to agree in Matthew's presence, but later told Anna to use Matthew's feelings for her against him. Incredulous, Anna questioned how far she was supposed to go, and devious Donald told her to go as far as she needed to reel Matthew in so that they could "spit him back out".
Unfortunately for Donald, spending so much time with Matthew caused a bond to form between him and Anna, and she soon realised that she was falling in love with him. After spending a romantic afternoon together, the pair could no longer deny the chemistry between them and ended up in bed. Though Matthew was suspicious of Anna's true motives, they proceeded to start a secret relationship. Unknowing, Donald offered Anna's services as a consultant for the King's business trip to Warsaw, thinking that it would give his daughter oppurtunity to gain valuable inside knowledge of King & Sons. He didn't count on Anna returning from the trip and finally admitting her love for his rival, destroying the information she had garnered. With a little persuasion from Katie Sugden, Matthew admitted to a thrilled Anna that he shared her feelings, telling her he loved her more than he imagined possible. The lovers vowed to stick together and start anew, despite the wrath of their families.
A few weeks later, Matthew returned from a second trip to Warsaw when he was confronted by a furious Donald, who offered to save King & Sons from financial ruin if Matthew ended his relationship with his daughter. Matthew refused, stating he was willing to risk everything for Anna, and Donald warned him there would be consequences. Upon Matthew returning to Home Farm, Anna finally confessed that she had initially been feeding information about the Kings to her father, but stopped as soon as she realised her feelings for him. Matthew was furious at first, but believed Anna when she said she would turn her back on Donald, and taken aback when she asked him to marry her. He soon accepted her proposal, and proved his joy by re-proposing to her the next day with an antique engagement ring that he had picked out, also telling her he had booked a Registrar for 16th December.
Matthew announced the engagement to a bemused Jimmy and jealous Carl, while Anna broke the news to an irate Donald and made preparations to move into Home Farm with her new fiance. Once again Donald begged Anna to end her relationship with Matthew, telling her she would be lost to him, but Anna was not to be swayed. A party was planned at Home Farm to celebrate Anna and Matthew's engagement, as well as the King's successful deal with Polek Haulage, and a seeming end to the family's financial worries. A furious Donald crashed the celebrations, soon causing a stir amongst the guests by announcing that Anna was only marrying Matthew to destroy the King family from the inside. Matthew angrily retorted that Donald had tried to buy him off, and managed to convince his family and the guests that Donald was lying to try and ruin his and Anna's relationship. Donald made a last ditch attempt to scupper the engagement by telling Anna he would disinherit her as if she never existed, and accused the King brothers of conspiring to murder their father. Anna reiterated that she chose Matthew, and furiously ordered Donald to leave. Pained to see his fiancee so upset, Matthew tried to calm Anna by telling her that it all that now mattered was them, and Donald would not split them because they were too strong together. While Anna slept, Matthew planned to confront Donald.
A furious argument between Matthew and Donald at Holdgate Farm, later the same night, ended in tragedy when the latter suffered a fatal heart attack. When Donald began to have chest pains, Matthew withheld his heart medication, saying Donald could have them when he agreed to make Anna happy by attending their wedding. Making one last plea, Donald crashed to the floor, dead. A panicked Matthew wiped his prints from the pill bottle and fled the scene without calling for assistance. Donald's body was discovered the next day, and a devastated Anna sobbed in Matthew's arms over the fact that her father died believing she hated him. Matthew, consumed by guilt when the police confirmed to Anna that Donald died of natural causes, soon after confessed his actions to Carl, who disgustedly told him that the guilt would eat him alive and begged him to tell Anna. Matthew refused to tell her as he couldn't bear to lose her, and he was going to let nothing ruin them. Anna meanwhile insisted that their wedding plans for December 16th continue, as the thought of marrying Matthew was the only thing getting her through her grief.
On the 5th August ITV confirmed that Matt will be leaving Emmerdale. The announcement of his departure came days after a newspaper reported that controversial producer, Anita Turner had told the cast they were all under review. [2]
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