Best known as troubled Billy Corkhill in Brookside, John McArdle is joining Emmerdale to play a down-to-earth plumber who may (or may not) be Chrissie White's biological father.
He plays Ronnie Hale and when Chrissie (Louise Marwood) comes across an old love letter from Ronnie, she instantly suspects he could be her biological father, but it’s not until there’s the excuse of a leak at Home Farm that she decides to call him.
With Ronnie unaware of Chrissie’s true agenda, will she establish the truth?
John will be on screen from mid April and said: "I am really pleased to be joining the cast of Emmerdale. The standard of the show is equal to anything I have worked on before and I am really happy to become part of that."
Iain MacLeod, Emmerdale series producer, said: "I am thrilled to welcome an actor of John's pedigree to the show. And in Ronnie, we have a character that will unearth every painful fragment of love and loss buried in the White family's past - with the odd unexploded bomb thrown in for good measure!"
As well as Brookside, John has had extended roles in Firm Friends, Merseybeat, The Bill and Waterloo Road, and has also appeared in Coronation Street and New Tricks.
