In the last week, viewers have watched Will Taylor form part of a new dynamic duo in Emmerdale. The character, played by Dean Andrews, had an immediately unfortunate start to married life with Kim Tate thanks to a devastating windstorm that claimed the life of former flame Harriet Finch.
Prior to their nuptials the police officer confessed her true feelings for Will, and Kim found out leading to a confrontation between the pair. Harriet did, however, realise that Kim and Will were meant to be and was seen apologising to Kim as she arrived at the church but later, Kim was unable to save her love rival's life and she became one of two victims of the storm.
After initially blaming Kim for Harriet's death, Will saw the error of his ways and the pair appear to have put what happened behind them and are doing anything to protect their family as scenes aired last week proved when they forced Dawn's ex, Alex, to leave Dawn, Lucas, and Clemmie alone.
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Dean first arrived in the village as Will back in 2019. He is the ex-con and former drug dealer who used to work for the dangerous DI Malone's gang. And he has since become complicit in the murder of Malone after he was shot by his daughter Dawn.
But away from the Dales, the actor is probably best known for starring as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series Life on Mars, a role he didn't bag until he was 40, and the sequel series, Ashes to Ashes. His first credited TV role, however, came in 2002 when he appeared in rival BBC One soap EastEnders before playing Barry Shiel in the Channel 4 drama Buried, which won the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series in 2004.
His first official acting role came a year before he stepped into Walford as he was given a role in 2001 film The Navigators by renowned filmmaker Ken Loach. He has since starred in programmes including 2003's Clocking Off, Casualty, Shameless, Silent Witness, Being Eileen, and Last Tango in Halifax.
But many will be surprised to know he had a different career before turning to acting. According to the Daily Star, for 20 years Dean worked on cruise ships and in clubs as a singer and in a throwback photo on his Instagram in 2020, he shared a photo of one of his album covers from 1986.
The cover featured a young Andrews posing on the cover of You to Me are Everything, in black trousers and a beige leather jacket. He also shared throwback photos from 1986 of him with a mullet haircut while singing at a holiday camp.
Away from work, Dean is engaged to fiancee Helen Bowen-Green and has two children from a previous relationship - daughters Sharny and Alice. The 59-year-old, from Rotheram, is also a grandfather, with granddaughter Ida-Rae born in August last year.
And Dean actually credits his businesswoman partner Helen for one of his biggest achievements. It was Helen who discovered that Robert De Niro was visiting Leeds for "an evening with" show and pushed Dean to enquire about interviewing him - and that he did in front of an array of fans.
Speaking to Loose Women about the experience, Dean said: “It came about from a drunken night. I was with my wife and she said ‘you’ll never guess who is coming to Leeds?’ I asked who and she said Robert De Niro. She told me she was thinking of getting me the tickets for Christmas and gave me the literature.
"I read through it and it said there was a celebrity interviewer to be confirmed. I said ‘they haven’t got one’ and to ring them to say I’d do it. You know what it is like after a few Jack Daniels. I ended up interviewing him for two nights."
While Dean may be busy in Emmerdale, there was talk of his Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes character DS Ray Carling making a comeback. Revealing on an episode of This Morning in 2020, he said: "There's a very, very good chance of that happening. The writers Matt Graham and Ashley Pharoah are in the process of writing four or five episodes, and getting everybody back together who wants to come back."
Dean is also set to team up with one of his Emmerdale co-stars. He will star in the Channel 5 documentary series Our Great Yorkshire Life. He will be joined by Liam Fox, who plays Dan Spence in the ITV soap. According to the Express, Our Great Yorkshire Life will see the duo taking part in a number of different activities including caving and kayaking. It comes after Dean narrated the show when it aired in the summer.
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