Emmerdale star confesses frustration over scripts and hints at murder twist

Emmerdale star Beth Cordingly accepts the show’s scripts often “frustrate” her following a chaotic first two months.

The 47-year-old made her bow as Ruby Milligan at the start of the year, introduced as the estranged wife of Caleb (Will Ash) and the mother of Nicky, played by Lewis Cope. She’s already made some enemies along the way after just a handful of weeks on the Dales and Ruby has already been barred from The Woolpack after cross words with Charity.

She often got into a physical altercation with Cain, soap star Jeff Hordley, and it seems she would rather be playing a much more chilled out character. Across Beth says Ruby’s reactions to certain situations often leave her annoyed but she is clearly enjoying the challenge of taking on the difficult character.

Beth told the Daily Star: “It’s quite frustrating when you get the scripts because you just think, ‘Oh my god’. She is just rude to everybody. As an actor you get the scripts and you think, ‘How do I make this work?’ and then you have to find your own logic through it, whether you’re playing a murder or whatever.”

The soap star was quick to clarify: “Not that I’m saying I’m playing a murderer!” She then added: “But you have to find your own logic to understand it.” Sharing more about why Ruby reacts the way she does, Beth said: “It seems with Ruby that her best form of defence is attack. She’s very impulsive and spontaneous, she speaks and acts without thinking.”

The former The Bill star revealed that her character has often been likened to soap super bitch Kim Tate – a comparison she doesn’t agree with. “I don’t think she’s anything like Kim Tate because she is very cool and calculated, while Ruby just reacts to stuff and is quite often full of regret afterwards,” she explained.

“The only way I can justify her behaviour is that she’s terrified of losing Caleb and sees his family as a threat, so instead of being clever about it and befriending them, she keeps insulting them which is obviously not going to help.” Beth suggested Ruby’s way of thinking stems back to her teenage years after she was abandoned by her family when she fell pregnant.

The star declared: “It’s a very childish way of approaching stuff but I don’t think she learned that sophistication. She has that teenage way of thinking because her family turned her back on her and now she’s stuck because she’s never learnt.”

Prior to the role, Beth has appeared in various projects over the years. The performer – who’s understood to be the daughter of writer and historian David Cordingly – previously studied English and Drama at the University of Birmingham, before reportedly training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Early in her acting career she had a role in Family Affairs, before performing in a West End production of Noël Coward’s Semi-Monde. She joined the cast of the Bill in 2020 and played PC Kerry Young until the character was killed off two years later. Her other credits include Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Dead Set and the Burning Girls. She played Debbie Morton, who was a cellmate of Shirley Carter (played by Linda Henry), in EastEnders in 2017.

Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 and ITVX at 7.30pm