The silver fox first joined the street back in 2014 as the new vicar at Emily Bishop’s parish, and the actor has stuck his teeth into his fair share of grisly storylines. Over the past 12 months, the soap star – who plays Archdeacon Billy Mayhew – has been bravely supporting his terminally ill husband, Paul Foreman.
The TV icon was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last summer and has slowly been losing control of his body ever since. But this isn’t the only harrowing storyline the actor has played on the famous cobbles, after his character battled drug addiction following the death of his mother.
But what fans may be surprised to know is that this isn’t the character’s first brush with fame on a beloved soap opera. In fact, he previously played a character called Ivan Jones on Emmerdale back in 2004.
On Monday (April 22), the actor took to Instagram to reflect on his time in the ITV Dales as he shared a throwback snap of himself on the show. Tuning into Classic Emmerdale, the soap star watched his character arrive in the Dales for the first time.
Sharing a sweet snap of him standing beside his younger self, the actor looked back on his time on the show. He penned: “Today Ivan Jones entered #ClassicEmmerdale… I’m now officially running in two amazing shows on @itv. Here’s me at 24 & 44…”
