Emmerdale star reveals retirement plans and missing co-star after brutal death

Emmerdale star Dean Andrews has spoken about his plans to retire if his time in the ITV soap comes to an end as he also addressed missing one of his co-stars after her character's brutal death.

Fans of the Leeds-based show best know the actor for playing Will Taylor. Dean first arrived in the village as Will back in 2019 and is the ex-con and former drug dealer who used to work for the dangerous DI Malone's gang. And he has since become complicit in the murder of Malone after he was shot by his daughter Dawn.

But away from the Dales, the actor is probably best known for starring as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series Life on Mars, a role he didn't bag until he was 40, and the sequel series, Ashes to Ashes.

READ MORE: Gemma Atkinson issues 'not long' countdown as she tells fans 'I wanted to be real'

Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link

Now though, Will is back at the forefront of the long-running soap in a new storyline which has seen the sudden arrival of his ex and Dawn's mother, Rose, back into his life. Viewers saw Rose, played by Christine Tremarco, make her first appearance in the hospital following an accident.

Will had taken a mysterious phone call and deceived his wife Kim Tate about the reason why he wasn't able to pick his grandchildren up from school, and his destination. Arriving at a hospital, he was led into a room where Rose, nursing an injury, was waiting for medical treatment. It quickly became apparent that this was their first meeting in many years, and Rose's identity was soon revealed.

Will explained that he had been contacted as he was listed as Rose's next of kin following her accident. As they discussed her disappearance years ago, it was disclosed that Rose was the mother of his daughter Dawn. Rose went on to reveal she and Will had been married, with it clear she'd walked out on them when Dawn was a youngster.

While Rose appeared to have no desire to be back in Will and Dawn's lives, new spoilers have revealed that Rose may be wanting to stick around while Dawn and her husband Billy Fletcher get the devastating news that their baby son, Evan, has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

Speaking about baby Evan's storyline to the Manchester Evening News and other media, Dean said: "It's really difficult. I've got grandkids and you start to relate it to your own. And you see your daughter going through and your son-in-law going through the heartache."

Rose is being played by Liverpool-born Christine, known for roles in The Responder, Safe House and Casualty, will be playing the character of Rose, and Dean and Christine actually have a past link. "We're a lovely little gang - Claire [King], Olivai [Bromley] and Jay [Kontzle] - but it's nice when someone is going to come in and create some more drama or a different dynamic and get someone on set with their energy.

"We've been on set together, our little gang, for three or four years now so we know each other, we love each other and we have a great time. I worked with Christine the first time 21 years ago [in 2005 film Faith] and she's not changed. I've also watched her career along the way and know she's a cracking actor and I knew she'd fit in because she's dead down-to-earth which I feel like we all are and she's just good."

As he was speaking about his soap family, Dean was asked how settled he feels on the show and how long he'd like to stay put as Will, to which he said: "I feel very settled. The other stuff we do [as actors], were there for three, four, five months or whatever we are and then we all disappear and go and do other stuff then we come back but here, I remember before I came in and people were saying it's like a family but it really is. We are together - I definitely see Claire more than I see my own wife and Olivia more than I see my own daughters.

He continued: "So we are like a little family and I do feel settled her and when the producers originally asked me if I'd like to come in, they said how long would you like to say and I said if I come in now, you'll have to kick me out. I'll stay as long as they want me to stay, however long they want me to stay is up to them but I'm of an age now, I'm in my 60s, so I'll probably retire after this job."

It's also been over a year since Katherine Dow Blyton left the soap as tragic Harriet Finch after the police officer was killed off during the show’s 50th anniversary month in October 2022 in which a dramatic storm hit the village.

Speaking about his former co-star and whether he misses working with her, Dean said: "Yeah, she was great, a really good actor and really down-to-earth. I suppose it's one of the sadder things, a lot of people here will have lost their partners along the way and I know Claire misses some of the boys, she enjoyed working with them. But I suppose it's just part and parcel [of the job] in that you loose good people along the way."