John Middleton is famed for playing Emmerdale vicar Ashley Thomas, but he’s now going to shock fans as he’s set to make his debut as an evil mob boss on Hollyoaks
An Emmerdale star is set to resurface in a rival soap, as its “most evil character” ever.
71-year-old John Middleton played kind-hearted vicar Ashley Thomas in the ITV soap and left in 2017 after his character died in a harrowing dementia battle. However, he’s now set to play an evil mob boss in Hollyoaks.
His casting may come as a shock to Emmerdale fans who will remember John as the lovable vicar. He played the clergyman for more than 20 years, having first played PC John Jarvis briefly in 1994.
He returned as a permanent fixture in 1997, this time as vicar Ashley Thomas. Ashley’s tragic deterioration after his dementia diagnosis saw him lose his memory and eventually fail to recognise his wife, Laurel and their children.
But he’s now playing the villainous Fraser in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks. A source said: “People usually think of Ashley when they see John but that won’t be happening any more, Fraser is about as far away to the kindly vicar you can get.”
The insider added to The Sun: “He’s possibly the most evil character Hollyoaks has ever had – and for a village plagued by serial killers, that’s saying something. Fraser will make his entrance very soon, and he’s got more than one connection to the village with his twisted family already there.”
His connection to the village will soon be revealed as he’s the father of the notorious Fraser Black (Jesse Birdsall). The gangster terrorised the village before he was killed in 2014.
His killer was finally unmasked in July 2014, and in a shocking twist, he was shot by his own stepson, Freddie Roscoe (Charlie Clapham). Roscue did so in a bid to protect his family.
John’s new character is also the grandfather of dodgy Hollyoaks residents Clare Devine, Grace Black and Rex Gallagher. It’s said his first meeting with Clare (Gemma Bissix) – is “explosive” with a “real battle” set to ensue.
Like other members of her family, Clare has been wreaking havoc in the soap. She has been running a secret exploitation ring in the village she used to live in, along with her husband, DI Banks (Drew Cain).
Grace got involved too, unaware that Clare was to do with the scheme, going so far as to groom teenagers with her brother Rex, played by Jonny Labey. Her ‘niece’ Franke Osborne even fell victim, to the horror of her dad Darren.
Teens Frankie and Dillon Ray (Nathaniel Dass) have been going down a bad path as they’ve been targeted by criminals who have lured them into their gang with attention and gifts. The friends were then encouraged to become addicted to drugs.
They had to first sell drugs in order to feed their drug addiction, and it later turned into sexual exploitation. The village turned on Grace when they discovered what she’d done.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
