Emmerdale star Jeff Hordley feared he was being 'replaced' when his latest storyline was revealed to him. This festive season, viewers of the ITV soap will see Cain Dingle come face-to-face with his brother, Caleb Miligan, when he pays him a visit in prison on Christmas Day.
Spoilers for the upcoming scenes reveal that Cain tells Caleb to stay away from his family but later, as Chas struggles with the aftermath of her affair with Al Chapman being exposed and the loss of her mother, Faith, Chas quietly leaves the awkwardness of the pub with the firework containing Faith's ashes in tow.
She heads to visit her daughter’s grave and reads out the card given to her by Faith. Missing both her mother and daughter, Chas stays strong but a stranger approaches with some bombshell news just as Faith’s firework takes off leaving Chas stunned. Could it be Caleb?
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What we have found out is that Cain has known about Caleb for more than 30 years after being introduced to him as a teen but for three decades, Chas has been none the wiser. And on Boxing Day, viewers will be transported back to 1991 where the story behind Caleb and Cain will be uncovered.
"We'll discover how Cain and Caleb first met, why Cain then rejected him from his life, and what was going on with Chas at that point," Jane Hudson, Emmerdale's executive producer revealed to the Manchester Evening News and other press.
She then revealed that three actors have been cast especially to play a young Cain, Caleb and Chas before adding: "added: "So it's a brilliant rewind episode that will explain a lot about their family history. And as much as Cain wants Caleb to disappear for another 30 years, Caleb is not going to have that.
"He wants to meet his sister Chas, he wants to meet the rest of his extended family and could he be the answer to all the Dingles' prayers in regards to Cain being locked up? You'll have to wait to find out that one."
It has already been revealed that Will Ash will be taking on the role of Caleb, who many viewers will recognise for playing Christopher Mead in BBC school drama Waterloo Road and Steve Robinson in Clocking Off. But initially, Jeff, who has played Cain for the best part of 20 years, did have reservations about the storyline.
"Initially, I'll be honest, I thought, 'they're bringing in a younger Dingle? What are they doing that for? Are they trying to replace me?' as you always get a little bit protective over your character and you're bringing in a similar character," he revealed to us.
However, he did admit: "But when I found out it was Will I was like, 'this is great'. It's the best thing that could have happened. It feels like Caleb has been here for a long time. The character's written so well and he's got a charm and Will brings that across really beautifully and Cain does have a connection with him. You can see he doesn't like him but he also finds something about him he wants to connect with."
But Jeff did reveal that Cain 'doesn't trust' his brother, especially when he starts getting involved in his case and the secret he and some of his family are hiding about Kyle. "He's thinking because I lied to him in the past, he's going to do something to me," Jeff said of Cain. "That's the way my character thinks."
There is, however, another reason that Caleb makes Cain 'look awful', according to Jeff. Discussing his character's line of work, Will said: "He's made a lot of money with horses. He's had this bad thing happen to him growing up in care but he's decided he's not going to be a victim and turn his life around.
"When he grew up in the care home, there was a stables across the field and he used to go there and found solace there. He ended up riding the horses and working in the stables then started training them and then started selling them. he's made a lot of money, and I mean a lot of money." He added with a laugh: "He has a nice car!"
But Jeff interjected: "He makes Cain look awful. He's the other brother that Cain's got that is doing a thousand times better than Cain could ever do which again, irks Cain."
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