Emmerdale casts TV icon Sharon Maughan in new role as an unwanted character from Caleb and Ruby's past returns

Caleb and Ruby Emmerdale
-Credit: (Image: ITV)


Emmerdale fans will spot a TV icon in the soap as fans are introduced to a new character from Ruby and Caleb’s past.

Emmerdale spoilers reveal Caleb is arranging a mysterious meeting. Hospital scenes show Caleb’s rendezvous is revealed to be partner Ruby’s ill mother Helen. Caleb is seen to be steely when Helen admits that she regrets the distance between herself and her daughter and that she’s now divorced from Ruby’s father.

The pair argue over Ruby, both remaining resolute in their opposing positions. He strikes a deal with Helen to bring Ruby to see her if she sends him £100,000. Ruby’s suspicious of Caleb’s late arrival home. He’s riddled with guilt over the deal he’s just made with Ruby's terminally ill mother but doesn’t mention it.

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During a virtual press conference, Caleb Milligan star Will Ash gave Emmerdale fans further details about the storyline and revealed which famous face will be playing Ruby’s mum Helen.

Setting the scene for the background relationship with Ruby’s parents, Will, 47, explained: “So, Ruby and Caleb don’t have any relationship with Ruby’s mum at all. Basically, what her mum and her dad did, when Ruby and Caleb got together, when they were about 17, they really disliked Caleb. They hated him because he’d come out of a care home and didn’t have any family. I think they just thought he was beneath their daughter.

“So, Helen was really snobby and judgemental. Helen and Ruby’s dad gave Ruby an ultimatum. They basically said ‘look if you want to be with this boy then we don’t want anything to do with you’. They basically just cut Ruby dead.

“They were quite vicious really and quite brutal with how they dealt with Ruby. They basically cut her out of their lives. She (Helen) wasn’t a nice person.”

The character, who is expected to appear for a limited number of Emmerdale episodes, will be played by Sharon Maughan. The 74-year-old will be recognisable to many as part of the 1980s advertisement featuring the ‘Gold Blend couple’ advertising the Nescafé instant coffee.

Elsewhere, Sharon, who is married to actor Trevor Eve, has appeared in TV shows Casualty and Heartbeat as well as film The Bank Job. Discussing Sharon’s addition to the cast, Will said: “She is an amazing actress because she only comes in for two episodes. We only had a day filming. We were doing all these intense scenes together in a hospital room, in a private hospital, just me and her going at each other really.

“She was amazing. It is hard to come into any show, to just do one day, and have lots of intense scenes. But she was fantastic and really a force of nature really.”

Will, who previously appeared in Coronation Street and Waterloo Road, has opened up about the moral issues around Caleb’s £100,000 offer to Ruby’s dying mum.

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Will explained: “On the surface, it is a really sly and devious move. Although, in Caleb’s head, it is payback for all those years of what she did to her. It is also a chance to secure Ruby and Caleb’s future.”

The star added: “He knows it could appear very sly and devious on the surface. So, he’s got to keep it from Ruby. It costs him something as he feels really quite guilty about it.

“But in typical Caleb fashion he’s trying to style it. Similar to his plan with Kim, when he was ripping the Dingles off and ripping Moira off, it’ll all be fine, if it comes off, but if it doesn’t come off, it is going to be up s**t creek for want of better words.”

During the interview, Will was asked how he felt that character Ruby would react discovering Helen might be back in the couple’s life. While also throwing into the mix Caleb’s deceit to Ruby of meeting Helen.

Will answered: “If she finds out that she’s been to see Helen behind her back, he knows that she will be furious, and there will be a real question of whether she can trust him ever again. So, the stakes are massive.”

Concluding, Will acknowledged that both he and Beth Cordingly, who plays Ruby in Emmerdale, have enjoyed delving into the couple’s past. Will said: “It is fantastic for me and Beth. When we chatted to producers, we knew what this past was, that Ruby and Caleb had been thrown together as they had been ostracised and disowned by her family.

“It had made them like glue. They are so self-reliant and they’ve had years of just looking after themselves. Caleb and Ruby have made a success of it.”

Will added: “Me and Beth are really chuffed about it (the upcoming Helen stoyrline). It is great to scratch the service a bit more.”

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