Emmerdale’s Beth Cordingly, who plays Ruby Fox-Miligan, has left her co-stars stunned with her off-script antics. The 46-year-old actress joined the show in January.

She very quickly became a beloved member of the ITV soap cast. However, she has since caused a stir among her co-stars by going off script and mocking their northern accents – a decision she made independently, reports the Mirror.

In a chat with the Metro, Beth revealed: “It’s not in the scripts. When I did it the first time around the dinner table the reaction of everyone was like [gasps]. I kind of wish I’d waited for the take.

In the scene before I did someone else’s accent, Moira’s, and I wished I’d held on it for the take because the reaction was [loud gasp]. Everyone looked outraged! And then of course you do it for the second or third time. Everyone said, ‘That’s the way to annoy northerners even more!”

Last month, Beth showcased her talent for mimicking a Yorkshire accent when she tried to reconcile Cain, played by Jeff Hordley, and Caleb, portrayed by William Ash. She demonstrated her skill during a karaoke session where she sang He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother in a convincing northern accent.

While her co-stars attempted to suppress their laughter, not all were successful. Beth’s character Ruby has captivated viewers for months, but the actress insists that her character is vastly different from her off-screen persona.

Beth compares Ruby to Modern Family’s Gloria, portrayed by Sofia Vergara, who speaks her mind without hesitation.

She added: “It’s one of the things in my head for that kind of impulsive action. She’s so different to me in the way that I would react to things, but you always have to find justification and the logic of the character.”

Playing Ruby seems to transport her back to her teenage years, which she describes as “always fun.” Beth went on to say: “I remember when I played Sara in Family Affairs, this Channel 5 soap years and years ago, she was this tearaway teenager who was very badly behaved and I remember thinking, ‘I’m just going to have to show the side of me that only my mum sees that kind of [screeches] side of you’. And I have to do that with Ruby as well sometimes. It’s always fun to play those kind of parts.”