Emmerdale’s Caleb actor has very famous soap star cousin who fans will know
Emmerdale's Caleb Miligan actor William Ash has a very famous family member
William Ash plays Caleb Miligan in Emmerdale (Image: ITV)
William Ash is a much-loved face on Emmerdale, and it turns out he is not the only famous actor in his family. The 49-year-old actor made his debut in the Dales as Caleb Miligan back in 2022. Devoted soap viewers will recognise Caleb as the long-lost son of Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter) and Frank Tate (Norman Bowler). Caleb has featured in numerous compelling storylines over the years, including standing by his wife, Ruby (Beth Cordingly), after it emerged that she had been sexually abused by her father, Anthony Fox (Nicholas Day), during her childhood.
The harrowing revelation led to Caleb discovering that his daughter, Steph (Georgia Jay), was not his biological child, having been conceived as a result of Anthony’s abuse of Ruby. That’s not all, as Caleb has also been a pillar of support for his brother, Cain (Jeff Hordley), throughout his cancer diagnosis, and was recently scammed out of £5,000 by his employee, Kerry Pollard (Laura Norton), and youngster Archie Breckle (Kai Assi), reports the Mirror.
Caleb has been involved in several memorable storylines over the years (Image: ITV)
Away from the long-running ITV drama, fans may be surprised to discover that William is not the only star in his family. Born in Chadderton, near Oldham, to an engineer father and a mother who worked as a police civilian, William developed a deep love of acting from an early age.
During his school years, the actor also struck up a friendship with his future on-screen brother Jeff Hordley, with the pair both attending North Chadderton Comprehensive in Oldham. They shared the same inspirational drama teacher, Colin Snell, who also nurtured the talents of actors including Nicola Stephenson, Jonas Armstrong and Jenna Coleman.
Acting talent clearly runs in the family, as William is the cousin of actor Peter Ash, who is well recognised for featuring in numerous British TV productions such as Casualty, Footballers’ Wives and Hollyoaks.
However, he is perhaps most celebrated for his portrayal of Paul Foreman in Coronation Street. Paul was the husband of vicar Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), son of Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) and twin brother of Gemma Winter-Brown (Dolly-Rose Campbell).
William is the cousin of former Corrie star Peter Ash (Image: ITV)
Paul passed away in September 2024 following a prolonged battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), with Billy notably missing his opportunity to say his goodbyes.
Releasing a statement following his departure from the soap, Peter wrote on X (formerly Twitter) at the time: “So, my time on Corrie has come to an end. I just want to say – thank you to everyone for the support you’ve given me over the years and with the storylines I’ve done. I really appreciate it.
“We’d be nothing without our fans, so thank you very much. I’ve had the time of my life filming Corrie. I’m going to miss everybody, but I’m excited to see what’s next [for me]. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everybody for watching.”
Since his departure from Corrie, Peter has appeared in Channel 5 thriller The Teacher, as well as audio drama Project Bläckfisk and the Peter James stage adaptation of Picture You Dead.
Emmerdale airs weekday nights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX, followed by Coronation Street at 8.30pm
