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Entertainment
Megan Shaw

Emmerdale's Butch Dingle actor Paul Loughran now after icon left TV fame behind for whole new career

Butch Dingle, played by actor Paul Loughran, was one of Emmerdale's most iconic characters, and a huge part of the Dingle family.

Francis Albert "Butch" Dingle was the son of Zak and Nellie Dingle, Butch got his nickname because at six years old he had come home from school with some flowers which he wanted to dry and press in a book.

His father Zak was concerned that his son was too sensitive so he started calling him "Butch" in an attempt to get him to behave more like a man.

Read more: Emmerdale stars who have enjoyed ups and downs in reality TV

As a result of this, Butch felt he was unable to develop as a person properly and unable to express his true feelings and he became a bully and troublemaker during his early years in the village.

Actor Paul Loughran first appeared on-screen in 1994 as Butch, and became a staple to the ITV soap during the six years that followed.

Butch was killed off in a village bus crash in 2000, leaving the rest of the Dingle family devastated. He was buried next to his brother, who had died six years earlier, and his tombstone read: "Dead but still Dingles."

Where is Butch Dingle actor Paul Loughran now?

After leaving Emmerdale behind, actor Paul went on to appear in The Bill and Heartbeart, ITV viewers also saw him in Blue Murder from 2003 to 2009 playing DS Butchers.

For seven years after this, he went back to university and trained to be a primary school teacher, an occupation he worked at in Blackburn until 2016 when he appeared in the television drama Jericho.

Shortly after this, he landed the role of Darryl Perkins, the father of Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) in Coronation Street in 2016.

However, his stint on the fellow ITV soap was short-lived, and his character hasn't been seen since September 2016, it is presumed that Paul went on to pursue a career in education.

He doesn't have an official page on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

You can visit our Emmerdale homepage to find the latest gossip about the soap and its stars. There you'll also find our Emmerdale features and news about the show's 50th anniversary plans.

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