Jean Tate was the daughter of Emmerdale vet Zoe Tate and Scott Windsor.
She was born in 2003, and she’s named after Zoe’s late mum.
Jean is Noah Dingle’s cousin – mum Zoe is the sister of Noah’s dad Chris Tate. And she’s also Cathy and Heath’s niece, even though she’s older than the twins, as her dad, Scott Windsor, is their half-brother.
Jean Tate’s mother, Zoe
Zoe Tate was a lesbian – in fact, she was the first lesbian in a soap. When she came out in the 1990s, things weren’t easy for her and she suffered quite a lot of homophobic abuse.
Linda Glover, the receptionist at the vet, even resigned when Zoe’s sexuality became known because her dad Ned didn’t want her working for a lesbian!
Zoe had a number of romances but it was her affair with Charity Dingle that really casued the most trouble! Not least because Charity was married to Zoe’s brother, Chris, at the time.
While the pair were having their steamy affair, Zoe was obsessed with her sister-in-law. When Charity ended their romance Zoe took it very badly!
She even blackmailed her.
But savvy Charity told Chris the truth instead and he chose his wife over his sister.
Chris frames Charity
Later Chris and Charity’s marriage fell apart. When he found out he had an inoperable brain tumour, Chris took his own life, and framed Charity for his murder!
Charity found out Zoe knew what Chris had done, and tried to seduce her sister-in-law to get her to tell the police. But Zoe got wise. Charity – who was pregnant with Noah at the time – ended up in prison.
After more upheaval, Zoe developed schizophrenia.
During one of her episodes , she got drunk and made a pass at Charity – who turned her down.
Scott and Zoe
Smarting from the rejection, Zoe bumped into Scott Windsor, who had a bit of a bad boy reputation, and threw herself at him. He accepted and they slept together.
But the next day, Zoe completely blanked out what had happened. Scott, who was dating Chloe Atkinson at the time, didn’t tell anyone. Though as Zoe’s behaviour got stranger, Scott started to worry.
When Zoe was taken to hospital she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and sectioned – and that’s when she found out she was pregnant! She was shocked because she couldn’t remember her hook-up with Scott. Zoe wanted to have an abortion and assumed she must have been raped.
But she changed her mind after seeing the baby on a scan. When her daughter was born she named her Jean after her mum.
Scott put two and two together and realised he must be Jean’s dad. But Zoe was still convinced he had raped her. It was her friend Ashley Thomas who helped her to see the liaison had been consensual.
Desperate for a new start after more upheaval, Zoe planned to emigrate to New Zealand with Jean and her nephew, Joe. She was so popular with viewers that her exit – when she blew up Home Farm in dramatic fashion – was watched by over 8 million people back in 2005.
Where are Jean and Zoe now?
Jean hasn’t returned to Emmerdale, despite her cousin Joe coming back to the village a few years ago.
As far as we know, Jean’s still in New Zealand.
Tragically, Leah Bracknell, who played Zoe Tate, passed away in 2019. But her alter-ego Zoe lives on, which many fans think is a fitting tribute to the popular actress. Zoe got a mention at the start of the year, when Noah discovered she’d set up a trust fund for him.
Where is Jean’s dad, Scott?
After Zoe left Emmerdale, Scott went off the rails. He went to prison for a while, had a romance with Debbie Dingle and dragged her into all sorts of trouble, and eventually moved to London.
He didn’t return to Emmerdale for his sister Donna’s funeral in 2014, and he’s not been mentioned for a long time.
Perhaps Jean has tracked down her dad off-screen?!
Why did fans think Chloe Harris was Jean Tate?
When Chloe Harris first appeared in Emmerdale, with her mysterious missing father, her shady background, and her secretive manner, fans were convinced there was more to her story than just her being the sister of Sarah Sugden’s heart donor.
In fact, viewers believed she was really Jean Tate, because Chloe is roughly the same age as Jean would be.
But despite the fans hoping there was more to be revealed about Chloe’s odd family set-up, it turned out the truth was not that she was a secret Tate, but in fact she was a secret Wyatt.
She is Kerry Wyatt’s daughter, and Amy Wyatt’s sister.
Disappointing!
Could Jean return?
We’d love to see Jean back in the Dales where she belongs. Kim’s getting waaay too comfy up at Home Farm – perhaps she needs another Tate to return and shake things up a bit.
Read more: Complete Emmerdale cast list 2023 – meet them all here!
Emmerdale usually airs on weekdays at 7.30pm, with an hour long episode on Thursdays.
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