DALES EXTRA

Cain Dingle has been ruffling feathers in Emmerdale on and off for 22 years, but Jeff Hordley, who plays the gruff mechanic, admits he only ever intended to do a short stint on the soap when he first joined in 2000.

‘I honestly thought I’d do it for two years, and I was only given a nine-month contract at first,’ Jeff, 52, tells us. ‘I ended up doing six years, which flew by, and then I left to do some more theatre and came back [in 2009].

‘Then Zoe [Henry; Jeff’s real-life wife who plays Rhona Goskirk] joined the show as a regular, so it seemed the natural and right thing to do to stay. It’s such a lovely atmosphere and a great company, so it was pretty easy to stay and have more fun.’