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Grace Morris

Jeff Hordley reveals which Dingle he'd bring back to Emmerdale and WHY

Emmerdale star Jeff Hordley on the red carpet wearing a black suit and white shirt

Emmerdale legend Jeff Hordley, who plays Cain Dingle on the soap, has revealed that he would love for his on-screen daughter Charley Webb to make an explosive return to the Dales.

Charley played Debbie Dingle, the daughter of Cain and Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), for 19 years before leaving the soap two years ago.

Debbie was last seen in the village in 2021, where she was revealed to be Al Chapman's (Michael Wildman) secret lover, who he had been cheating on his girlfriend Priya Kotecha (Fiona Wade) with.

Debbie discovered that he was engaged to Priya and the pair hatched a revenge plan to get back at the sleazy businessman.

Charley Webb played Debbie Dingle since 2002. (Image credit: ITV)

Before Debbie left, she disowned her mum Charity after Al manipulated her into confessing how Debbie set him up.

Talking to The Sun, Jeff revealed that he would love for Charley to return, saying that it would be "great" to have her back in the Dales.

He commented: "Absolutely, all day long. I'm in touch with Charley an awful lot but I think she's kind of busy doing other things. 

"There is always room for her to return — she was such a massive character in the show and such an important and integral character.

"She did so many fantastic storylines, it would be great to see her back."

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Charley will be returning to Emmerdale anytime soon as she announced her first-ever theatre role.

Taking to Instagram, Charley revealed she'll be playing the role of Diana Ingram in the stage adaptation of Quiz, which tells the story of the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? cheating scandal that shocked the nation.

She captioned the image: "I’ve been so excited to announce this. I’ll be making my stage debut in Quiz as Diana Ingram, written by the amazing @misterjamesgraham We’re opening in @chichesterft on Friday 22nd September and we’ll be going on tour for 9 weeks to some amazing theatres. Very nervous but very excited. Link in my bio. Who’s coming?"

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30 pm on ITV1, with a hour-long episode on Thursdays — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on ITVX.

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