Will Ash has teased that his character has got an 'axe to grind' after entering Emmerdale as Caleb Miligan. The former Waterloo Road star made his debut in the ITV soap on Christmas Day when he paid his long-lost brother Cain Dingle a visit in prison.
Caleb's arrival into the soap had already been teased when exta presents arrived at the farm for Cain's son's Kyle and Issac. But it wasn't until later that we saw Caleb on-screen as Cain finally agreed to meet him. The character has made a reappearance in Cain's life after discovering their mum, Faith, had died.
It was revealed during the Boxing Day episode, as Cain spoke to Moira about his brother's arrival, that Cain told Caleb Faith had died years ago, something he used to tell people after she abandoned him and sister Chas when he finally found him as a teen.
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The flashback episode on Monday (December 26) saw Emmerdale fans got to learn more about Cain and Chas' home life when Caleb first showed up and revealed himself as Faith's other son to Cain, interspersed between scenes of Cain in prison and Chas talking to Caleb in The Woolpack after he headed Cain's warning to stay away and paid a visit to the village.
Viewers were transported back to the nineties when Chas and Cain were shown to be living together after escaping their abusive family home with Shadrach. Later, viewers saw a young Cain, played by Aiden Kane, working at a garage where he was found by Caleb and told they were brothers.
Cain didn't believe him at first but a young Caleb, played by Riccardo Drayton, showed him his birth certificate which showed Faith had given birth to him while in prison, and before Chas arrived into the world. While unsure at first, Cain appeared to be warming to Caleb and agreed for him to meet Chas.
However, that plan was scuppered when Chas told Cain she was pregnant, with who we now know to be as Aaron Dingle, and everything changed as Cain struggled with his sister's news. After telling Caleb to stay out of their lives, he did a runner in one of the cars. But as they were caught by the police, Cain took the wrap for Caleb leading to his first spell behind bars.
Speaking about Caleb's arrival, Jeff Hordley, who plays Cain, revealed 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 being the true culprit when it comes to the murder of Al Chapman.
"He's thinking because I lied to him in the past, he's going to do something to me," Jeff said of Cain to the Manchester Evening News and other press. "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!" And 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."
When asked if viewers might see characters from Caleb’s life away from the Dingles if he were to stay on a long-term basis, Will shared: "Possibly. I think so. I don’t know any of this but he might have been married or divorced and have kids. At the moment, he’s come in as a lone wolf but there’s certainly potential.
The 45-year-old added: "It is so great about him there’s a bit of a blank canvas and there’s only so much even I know about him at the moment. I think he’s holding quite a lot back." But one thing is for sure is that Caleb isn't going to disappear without a fight. "[Caleb is] complex and layered because he comes in having this dark backstory having been adopted and put in care as a child," Will said. "When he was in his teens, he finds Cain and tries to reconnect with his family.
"He's told by Cain that his mum's dead and to steer clear basically. Caleb spends most of his time growing up in care. So when he finds out that Faith wasn't dead, he comes into it with a lot of anger and has an axe to grind with Cain. There's a lot of bitterness that he's holding on to, as you'd expect from growing up without a family, not knowing his mother and missing out on the opportunity to get to know who he is. There's a lot going on."
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