Donald De Souza in Emmerdale was married to Nicola King for a while. In fact, he was married to her for longer than she’d expected. Or hoped!
He was a wealthy businessman and he was much older than Nicola.
And in tonight’s episode, poor Rishi Sharma is convinced Donald’s ghost is haunting his house!
So what was Donald’s story?
Who played Donald De Souza in Emmerdale?
Donald was played by classical actor Michael Jayston.
He’s had a long career on the screen and on stage. His credits include playing Mr Rochester in a BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre, and starring opposite Alec Guinness in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
He’s also known for playing iconic Doctor Who villain, the Valeyard.
He played Raquel’s dad in Only Fools and Horses, and he appeared in Coronation Street as the judge who sent Jim McDonald to prison for assaulting Jez Quigley.
Who was Donald De Souza?
Back in 2007, Nicola Blackstock, as she was then, had been away from Emmerdale for a while, having left the village in disgrace. She’d got involved in her half-brother Paul Lambert’s love-life, managed to split up him and his fiance Ivan, and been sent packing by Paul, and dad Rodney.
Nicola arrived back in the village claiming to be a widow. She told everyone her husband Donald De Souza had suffered a brain haemmorage and passed away.
She was telling the truth. Mostly. Because in fact, Donald was still alive and on life support!
Nicola Rumbled!
At the time, Jasmine Thomas was living in the village and trying her hand at being a journalist. She was suspicious about what Nicola was up to, because Nicola was flirting up a storm with Jasmine’s boyfriend David Metcalfe.
Jasmine did a bit of digging – and she found out that poor old Don was in a coma in hospital, abandoned by his wife.
Donald woke up but Nicola meanwhile, had started an affair with David and vengeful Jasmine was NOT happy about it.
She tracked down Donald’s son, Miles, who told his dad everything. Donald demanded a divorce but Nicola talked him round.
Nicola taken down by Donald!
Donald came out of hospital and he and Nicola moved into Holdgate Farm – where Rishi now lives. Donald, though, wasn’t the meek old man he pretended to be.
He hired an actress called Cindy to pretend to be his nurse and annoy Nicola.
And Nicola, in turn, was trying to murder Donald, intending to blame Cindy!
Dark stuff!
Eventually there was a big confrontation between Nicola and Donald. He told her he knew what she was up to and when they were on a picnic near a cliff, he even pushed his own wheelchair close to the edge and told her to kill him.
But Nicola couldn’t do it. She agreed to the divorce, tried to fleece Don for every penny she could, but in the end she agreed to a settlement of £20,000.
Donald’s death
While all this was going on, the De Souzas – especially Donald’s daughter Anna – had been embroiled in a fierce rivalry with Carl King and had fallen in love with Matthew King.
Donald had tried to break them up by telling Matthew that Anna was only marrying him to destroy his family from the inside.
So, just a few days after Nicola signed the divorce settlement, there was an argument between Matthew and Donald.
Donald had a heart attack and Matthew thought he was making it up. He told him he wouldn’t give him his medicine until he agreed to come to the wedding.
But it was too late. Donald fell to the floor, and Matthew legged it! Donald’s body was found the next day.
Matthew himself died in an accident on his wedding day, leaving Anna heartbroken.
And now Rishi thinks it’s Donald who could be haunting his house!
We’re not sure poor Donald wants to come back to Emmerdale, we’ve got to be honest. But stranger things have happened!
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.
Is Donald’s ghost Rishi’s intruder? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!