Emmerdale: What did Ella actually do to Joanne?

So, Gary turned up at Ella’s birthday party in tonight’s episode of Emmerdale (Thursday, August 22) and truly ruined the occasion.

He gave Ella a card with a photo of Joanne in it – his dead sister who Ella was responsible for killing when they were kids.

Here’s exactly what Ella did to Joanne and why Gary has it in for her!

Ella angrily smashes the cake as Mandy looks confused — Gary ruined the event (Credit: ITV)

Emmerdale: Gary crashed Ella’s 30th birthday party

This evening in the Dales, Mandy surprised Ella for her 30th birthday. She kicked off the celebrations with a breakfast and a pamper in the salon but Ella wasn’t too keen.

Rhona then notified Ella of the before and after photos of her that Mandy had posted on social media, and, oh boy, did that set Ella off!

She soon grabbed the carrot cake that Mandy had bought her and broke it to pieces, slamming her for putting her face out there.

Later on, all seemed to be forgiven as she enjoyed a sing-song at her surprise party in the Woolpack. However, as she grabbed the mic, a familiar (and unwelcome) face turned up. Gary – Joanne’s brother – had turned up to wish her a not-so-happy birthday.

He handed her a card with an image of Joanne inside of it, soon sharing his hopes that this birthday would be Ella’s last.

Ella then went off on a mad rage, attacking Wendy and doing her best to get sent back to prison – where she thought she belonged. It looks like her birthday wish was about to be granted as she was carted off in a police car following the incident.

Emmerdale's Ella and Joanne in a photograph — Joanne was only a child when she died (Credit: ITV)

So, how did Ella actually kill Joanne?

Ella – also known as Ruth – was revealed to be a child-killer earlier this year. This came out as attended the funeral of an old woman called June.

June turned out to have been the mum of Ella’s childhood bestie, Joanne. Although, they weren’t exactly the closest of mates when Joanne died!

When Joanne was eleven, Ella got jealous of her new friends. She feared that June wouldn’t love her as much if she stopped hanging out with Joanne. June felt like a second mum to Ella, and she wasn’t prepared to lose her.

So, Ella ended up fighting with Joanne until she attacked her so much that she was dead.

She then went to prison for her crime and changed her identity. But, this didn’t stop Gary from tracking her down, we see!