During Corriedale – which aired in January – Cain was rushed to hospital after being shot. While he was there, he was told that a lump discovered inside of him needed to be tested for cancer.

Waiting for the results was stressful enough for Cain and Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb), but matters were made even worse for them when Celia Daniels and Ray Walters’ (Jaye Griffiths and Joe Absolom) reign over the village came to an end.

It’s been an awful lot, and we’re barely into 2026! Here’s everything you need to know about Cain’s cancer journey so far, plus the dire situation with Moira.

What has happened to Cain and Moira so far this year?

Following his hospital trip, Cain returned home with Moira and faced an agonising wait for the results of his cancer test.

Focus then turned to Moira, who found herself getting arrested for having ID cards in her home, which suggested she had been helping Celia with her modern slavery operation. Moira protested her innocence but as she was unable to explain how the cards got in her house, and she also had history of working with Celia from a farming perspective, she didn’t exactly look innocent.

As this was happening, Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly) had learnt about refugee Anya potentially being dead. She managed to find her burial spot and called the police, not realising she was on Moira’s farmland.

To her horror, Ruby watched the police pull Anya’s body out of the ground, and someone else’s.

Moira was immediately arrested for double murder, as the other body turned out to be Celia’s.

Due to the fact Moira cannot prove she is innocent, she is still in prison, and facing the possibility she may be sentenced for crimes she did not commit.

With Moira behind bars, Cain has been tasked with looking after the farm, his garage and ensuring their two sons are cared for. He was also quietly dealing with the fact he’s been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The only two people in the village who knew about Cain’s news were Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) and Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill). They both wanted Cain to talk to other people about his situation, but he remained adamant that he was fine.

Everything changed on Monday, March 9 though, when Cain headed to the police station to tell Moira everything.

It was a hugely emotional episode, as Cain broke down and admitted how terrified he was for the future.

Moira helped Cain create a plan to tell the rest of his family, which happens in Tuesday, March 10’s episode of the show.

Is Cain Dingle leaving Emmerdale?

At the moment, there hasn’t been any confirmation stating Jeff Hordley is leaving his role as Cain Dingle. It gives us hope that Cain will survive his cancer journey, but we know that anything is possible when it comes to soapland.

The prostate cancer storyline was, Jeff told us, conceived as ‘The story of a man who doesn’t normally talk about his feelings. It’s bad enough having cancer but the possible side effects of this particular illness are really damaging to males and their egos. Having to talk about that and confront it is, I think, where we want to go down.’

He insisted that, alongside this, the entire situation is ‘a big love story’ between Moira and Cain.

‘That was underpinning all this. How they get all these adverse challenges and how they deal with them – Moira being inside prison, Cain being told he’s got this illness and how bad it is.’

When asked whether their current ordeals could break Cain and Moira’s marriage apart or make them stronger, Jeff said he genuinely didn’t know – and it could go either way.

‘I think that’s what’s good about this story, for Cain and Moira,’ he reflected. ‘There’s a series of obstacles and hurdles that lay in front of them that I think are really going to challenge them as a couple.

‘As to whether it makes or breaks them, I don’t think I even know just yet but it’s going to be really interesting to see.’