William Ash has been gripping Emmerdale viewers with his conniving performance as Caleb Milligan, who recently scammed £100k from his dying mother-in-law Helen Fox, portrayed by Sharon Maughan, under the guise of reuniting her with her estranged daughter Ruby after 30 years. The plot thickens as Caleb's loyal wife and Helen's daughter, Ruby (played by Beth Cordingly), remain unaware of the deceit a plight made sadder by Helen's death in the hospital before any family reunion. Audience members are now speculating if Caleb will come clean about his duplicity.
In a separate storyline, Caleb has been plotting to take over Will Taylor's (Dean Andrews) haulage firm to challenge the supremacy of Kim Tate's Home Farm, as played by Claire King, signalling more drama ahead for the village. Off-screen, William Ash's life is nothing like his Emmerdale alter ego's, according to the Mirror. Now 47, William grew up in Chadderton near Oldham, where he developed his passion for acting, despite having an engineer father and a police civilian mother.
His early years included aspirations of becoming a football player, inspired by his dad's history in semi-professional sports. "My dad played a lot of football and played semi-professionally and that is what I wanted to do, be a footballer, until I was 16/17," William revealed in a past interview with Inkpellet back in 2012. William and his co-star Jeff Hordley, who's most recognised as Cain Dingle from the same show, have a history that dates bac.