Emmerdale star William Ash, best known for playing Caleb Miligan, has a famous cousin on a rival soap that will surprise fans. The 49-year-old actor is related to Peter Ash, who played Paul Foreman on Coronation Street.
William Ash's Role in Emmerdale
William Ash first arrived in the Dales as Caleb Miligan in 2022. Caleb is the long-lost son of Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter) and Frank Tate (Norman Bowler). Over the years, Caleb has been involved in several memorable storylines. He supported his wife, Ruby (Beth Cordingly), after her father Anthony Fox (Nicholas Day) sexually abused her. This led to Caleb discovering that his daughter, Steph (Georgia Jay), was not his biological child, as she was born from the abuse.
More recently, Caleb has been helping his brother, Cain (Jeff Hordley), through a cancer diagnosis. He was also scammed out of £5,000 by his employee, Kerry Pollard (Laura Norton), and youngster Archie Breckle (Kai Assi).
Family Ties to Another Soap
Away from the ITV soap, fans may be surprised to learn that William Ash is not the only star in his family. Born in Chadderton near Oldham to an engineer father and a police civilian mother, William developed a passion for acting early on. During school, he befriended his future on-screen brother, Jeff Hordley, at North Chadderton Comprehensive. Both were inspired by drama teacher Colin Snell, who also mentored actors like Nicola Stephenson, Jonas Armstrong, and Jenna Coleman.
Acting talent runs in the family. William is the cousin of Peter Ash, known for roles in Casualty, Footballers' Wives, and Hollyoaks, but most famously as Paul Foreman on Coronation Street. Paul was the husband of vicar Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), son of Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove), and twin brother of Gemma Winter-Brown (Dolly-Rose Campbell).
Peter Ash's Exit from Coronation Street
Paul died in September 2024 after a battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), with Billy missing his chance to say goodbye. After his exit, Peter Ash shared a statement on X: "So, my time on Corrie has come to an end. I just want to say - thank you to everyone for the support you've given me over the years and with the storylines I've done. I really appreciate it. We'd be nothing without our fans, so thank you very much. I've had the time of my life filming Corrie. I'm going to miss everybody, but I'm excited to see what's next. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everybody for watching."
Since leaving Corrie, Peter has appeared in Channel 5 thriller The Teacher, audio drama Project Bläckfisk, and the stage adaptation of Picture You Dead. Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX, followed by Coronation Street at 8.30pm.
