Jailhouse shock

Robert's husband Kev, who he married in prison, is making his presence felt in Emmerdale. Actor Chris Coghill fills us in

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"When I was offered it and I was told he dies I thought, 'I like Emmerdale and I'd like to be around for a bit, so I'd want to come and do something that had some potential longevity.'

"But when I was told what the character was, I thought, actually this sounds like a right laugh."

The role is starkly different to his stint on EastEnders in 2008 as child abuser Tony. The shocking storyline saw Chris go on to miss out on certain roles, but he feels proud that the "groundbreaking" plot changed lives.

"It was so controversial and pretty groundbreaking at the time," Chris says. "The reaction to that was pretty big. One of the reactions to that was that five or six people actually went to prison because people saw that storyline and went, 'That happened to me,' and went to the police. As an actor you don't really change people's lives, but that sort of did."

However, playing such a despicable character meant that Chris wasn't in the running to play any romantic leads for the next few years.