Jeff Hordley reveals why he took a break from Emmerdale

Jeff Hordley took a break from 'Emmerdale' because he hadn't "ticked all the boxes" he wanted to.

The 51-year-old actor, who has played Cain Dingle in the ITV soap since 2000, first exited the show in 2006, before making a comeback three years later in 2009, and he has now opened up about why he departed the programme.

He said: "I think I just got to a point where I wanted a [change] because I'd only been four years out of drama school so I kind of thought I had not quite ticked all the boxes I wanted to.

"I wanted to work in London and things like that and I left wanting to fulfil those things. During those three years out of it, I kind of managed to do that.

"I never really thought about whether [Cain] would turn into the part he's turned into."

Jeff admitted he was initially offered a three-month contract before it was extended to a year.

During his time away from the Yorkshire Dales, the soap star was able to pursue other career opportunities, such as starring in the production of ‘Mother Goose’ at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, and playing Napoleon in George Orwell's ‘Animal Farm’ at Leeds' West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2008.

Jeff has insisted to fans who loved Cain's "nasty" side that the character couldn't have stayed that way forever, otherwise he would've been "written out".

Speaking on 'Mik Artistik's Ego Podcast', he added: “As the years have gone on he’s mellowed because the older you get you do mellow and that’s realistic,

“I think sometimes you see people who love the show and go, ‘I prefer him when he was nasty.’

“But it’s not realistic because if he was like that all the time in a few years he would do something so bad he’d have to get written out of the show.”