Emmerdale actor Danny Miller has been forced to publicly deny false rumours that his father, Vince Miller, had died. The 35-year-old, who plays Aaron Dingle on the ITV soap, took to social media on Friday to address the 'vile' posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram claiming his dad had been killed in a tragic car accident.
Vince Miller, a well-known compère and host in Manchester's entertainment scene who has worked with acts including The Beatles and Take That, lives with dementia. Danny often shares updates about his father's condition and how it affects their relationship.
Emotional Video Response
In a video posted to his Facebook page, Danny said: 'My dad's alive. What an awful, awful thing to just be on your main grid. Imagine the day when it actually comes and the sad news happens, if that happens before me with his dementia, people go "oh I thought he died two years ago". My dad is alive.'
The actor explained that he felt compelled to respond after his 17-year-old niece and other family members began messaging him in distress. 'There's these Facebook and Instagram posts going around and people thinking that my dad's died in a tragic car accident. I never usually reply or respond or engage in this s***, but my niece is messaging me this morning, she's 17-years-old, going "has this happened". Family members and old friends of his messaging me, and I thought I'll just address it on here and hopefully people will get that he is alive.'
Criticism of Misinformation
Danny criticised those creating and spreading the false rumours, suggesting they were motivated by financial gain through engagement. 'One thing about the spotlight, public eye, fame, whatever you want to call it. I've been involved in this world for over half my life and I've read some s*** about me in the past, making it up and these are journalists, but now we've got every day people making Facebook and Instagram accounts and posting utter s****.'
He continued: 'I've seen some rubbish in the past, but when it's affecting the family personally and then affecting me indirectly, it's just something I just had to tell. And to the sad people who are starting these accounts. It's beyond me. I get that you can make money on things these days, and engagement earns you money, but to then use utter s***. They've not even thought about it, made it believable in my eyes, where you could go "dementia's finally taken him"…he's been in a tragic car accident? That's my first thing. Reading it is just f****** awful.'
Support from Fans
Danny's followers flooded his Facebook page with supportive messages. Wendy commented: 'I'm so relieved and like yourself, am absolutely disgusted and flabbergasted with what's been posted. I feel for you.' Jill wrote: 'I read that story Danny – didn't believe it but knew many people might – absolutely disgraceful – why do people do this – how do they sleep at night ?? Obviously not real Emmerdale fans – big hugs to you and your dad.' Mandy added: 'How cruel is the world we live in. I'm so pleased your Dad is alive and well. I've been through what you're going through with my Dad and I feel your pain.'
Positive Update
This week, Danny returned to Facebook to share a heartwarming photo of himself and Vince holding hands and smiling at a cafe. He captioned the image: 'All well and good' alongside a heart hands emoji.
Emmerdale Storyline
Meanwhile, in Emmerdale, Danny's character Aaron Dingle remains suspicious of newcomer Serena Sugden (Casey Al-Shaqsy), Robert Sugden's (Ryan Hawley) distant cousin. Aaron's distrust stems from the last time a long-lost Sugden arrived—John (Oliver Farnworth), who turned out to be a dangerous medic with a hero complex, ultimately killing Nate Robinson and endangering others.
In upcoming episodes, Aaron's fears escalate when Robert is hit by a trailer, and Serena is present at the scene. Aaron shares his theory with Robert, and together with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), they decide to monitor Serena closely. As Aaron and Chas dig deeper, a secret on Serena's stolen phone threatens to unravel everything. Robert confronts Serena with evidence of her lie, but her true motives remain unclear.
