Will Ash has revealed that his Emmerdale alter ego Caleb Miligan will strike a cunning deal with the estranged mother of his wife Ruby (Beth Cordingly) in upcoming scenes.
After the drama of the fire in the barn, an injured Ruby was discharged from hospital tonight (13th September 2024) and missed a call from her mum, Helen, who she hasn’t seen since she left home to marry Caleb.
Caleb answered the call and tried to get rid of Helen – but she won’t be giving up that easily, leading to a series of twists.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other media, Ash explained what motivates Helen’s sudden contact for the first time in decades.
“She’s got his number and she’s phoning him and she’s saying, ‘I want to see Ruby, I’m in hospital and I’m dying and I want to see her’,” he revealed.
Caleb decides to visit Helen himself, added the actor. “She says she’s on her deathbed, he doesn’t know if that’s true. He knows, because Helen, Ruby’s mum, has been so manipulative and kind of behaved terribly in the past, he just doesn’t trust anything that she’d ever say.”
With Helen still insistent on seeing Ruby, Caleb turns the situation to his advantage. “In the background of all this with Caleb, he’s trying to secure Jimmy’s business, the haulage firm.
“He’s after Jimmy’s shares at the moment, he needs money to secure that and he has a bit of a cash flow problem.
“So what he does is devious, but for the greater good is how he sees it – he goes ‘right, if you want to see your daughter, I want some money off you’ – so he can get these shares.
“The way Caleb rationalises it is, he goes: ‘Ruby’s never going to get any inheritance from this woman, this woman has been awful to her, so I’m going to make her pay for what she’s done’,” said Ash.
“It’s going to help Caleb, but it’s also going to help Ruby because they will buy the haulage firm that will secure their future. It’s going to make them a lot of money.
“So he wants £100,000 in his account then he says ‘when it’s there, I’ll ask Ruby if she wants to speak to you’. On the surface, it’s a really sly and devious move, but in Caleb’s head it’s payback for all those years of what she did to her and it’s a chance to secure Ruby and Caleb’s future.”
The actor told RadioTimes.com and other press that despite her suspicions, Caleb doesn’t fill Ruby in on his dodgy dealings with her mother. “He’s waiting for the money to come into the account before he mentions anything to Ruby, and I think he will genuinely do it if the money comes into his account.”
“He knows he’s treading a fine line here, because it could appear, and I think it does appear very sly and devious. So he’s got to keep it from Ruby and I think he does feel guilty about it, but in Caleb fashion, he’ll try and style it out – very similar to what he did with Kim when he was ripping the Dingles off. He thinks ‘if it comes off, it’ll all be fine.’”
Asked how Ruby will react if she discovers Caleb’s scheming, Ash replied: “I think he knows that if she finds out he’s been to see Helen and he’s gone behind her back, she will be furious.
“There will be a real question of whether she can trust him ever again. The stakes are massive in that moment.”
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