As Caleb Miligan’s lies and deceit continued to crawl their way around Emmerdale, we take a closer look at the actor’s life away from the ITV soap including his first soap role 37 years ago
Emmerdale star William Ash has left viewers of the ITV soap gripped with his portrayal of devious Caleb Miligan.
Most recently, Caleb has managed to swindle £100k out of his dying mum-in-law Helen Fox (Sharon Maughan) in return for reuniting her with estranged daughter Ruby (Beth Cordingly) after 30 years.
Caleb’s doting wife Ruby is unaware of his betrayal as her mum died in hospital before she could say goodbye. Will he come clean about his deceit?
The businessman has also been trying to get his hands on Will Taylor’s (Dean Andrews) haulage firm as he plans a new venture to rival Home Farm belonging to his nemesis Kim Tate (Claire King). But away from the Yorkshire Dales, William’s life couldn’t be more different from his soap alter-ego.
William’s rise to fame
Emmerdale’s Will Ash plays Caleb Milligan ( Image: ITV)
William, 47, was born in Chadderton near Oldham, to an engineer father and a police civilian mother, where he spent much of his early life before being bitten by the acting bug.
Despite showing a clear interest in drama at school, acting wasn’t always Will’s dream job – as he previously revealed he had actually wanted to be a footballer in his youth.
“My dad played a lot of football and played semi professionally and that is what I wanted to do, be a footballer, until I was 16/17,” he told Inkpellet back in 2012.
During his school years, Will first met and made friends with his future co-star Jeff Hordley, who plays Cain Dingle, with the pair having known each other for several years prior to his Emmerdale debut.
The actor starred in Children’s Ward ( Image: ITV)
He told the Daily Star, “We both went to the same school, North Chadderton Comprehensive in Oldham and had a really inspirational drama teacher called Colin Snell who not only inspired us but the likes of Nicola Stephenson and then went on to another school with Jonas Armstrong and Jenna Coleman.”
Although Jeff was a few years older than Will, the pair starred in a play together, sparking their enduring friendship that exists even now, several decades later.
Having decided to pursue a serious career in acting, one of Will’s very first roles was actually in Coronation Street when he cameoed for one episode as a character named Spike at the age of just 10 years old back in 1987.
From there he continued to star in numerous productions, typically for single episode runs, including in 90’s favourites such as Heartbeat, and even enjoyed a role as a series regular in Children’s Ward, from 1989 – 1991.
Continuing on his road to success, numerous regular TV roles followed, including parts in Beck, Where the Heart Is, Soldier Soldier, Burn It and Clocking Off.
William played Christopher on Waterloo Road between 2009 and 2011 ( Image: Shed Productions/BBC)
By the noughties, Will had established himself as a formidable actor, with his name frequently popping up in a number of iconic shows, including BBC favourite Doctor Who.
William enjoyed a three-year stint in the popular BBC drama Waterloo Road between 2009 and 2011. He played the troubled school’s deputy head teacher Chris Mead – who had a relationship with a schoolgirl – his boss’ daughter.
He has also appeared in ITV’s serial killer drama, The Loch and played the role of Marvin in a British TV drama series, Wanderlust.
Famous cousin
Former Corrie star Peter Ash is the cousin of Emmerdale actor Wil (
Image: Kate Green/Getty Images for the NTA’s)
Acting talents must run in the family as William’s cousin is Coronation Street star Peter Ash, who played Paul Foreman on the ITV soap.
The Corrie star first arrived in Weatherfield back in 2018 but his character Paul tragically passed away on September 9, almost 18 months on from a tragic motor neurone disease diagnosis.
Peter is also famed for starring as Darius Fry in Footballer’s Wives between 2003 and 2006.
William’s life couldn’t be more different from his soap alter-ego ( Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Last year, Peter was asked how he felt, with his cousin taking to the world of soaps: “He’s doing great work. I’m loving it. I’m loving it, go on the Ash’s”, reports The Metro.
Away from the bright lights of Emmerdale, William tends to keep his private life out of the spotlight and away from social media. However, the soap star is a proud father to two children and reportedly lives in Greater Manchester with them.
