Emmerdale's Beth Cordingly, better known as Ruby Miligan in the ITV1 soap, has spoken about her relationship with William Ash, who plays her character’s husband Caleb, and jokingly revealed what ticks her off about the popular actor.
The 48-year-old star made the admission during an exclusive interview and photoshoot for TV Times magazine, on sale now, which has brought together four leading ladies from the soap world — Beth, Coronation Street star Channique Sterling-Brown (Dee-Dee Bailey), EastEnders favourite Diane Parish (Denise Fox) and Hollyoaks’ Jennifer Metcalfe (Mercedes McQueen) — to celebrate the return of The British Soap Awards.
The ceremony, which took a hiatus last year, is being held at London’s Hackney Empire this Saturday, May 31, and is hosted by singer, presenter and self-confessed soap addict Jane McDonald.
Asked to lift the lid on whether co-star William has any bad habits, Beth says, “The worst thing about Will Ash is hearing everybody going on about how nice he is, to be honest!
"He was lovely in my screen test. I met him years ago when he came to see a play I was in, but we didn’t know each other.
"When I got shown around the Emmerdale studios, I met him properly and I was like, ‘I’m so bored of everyone telling me how nice you are!’”
Beth and Will are nominated for Best On-Screen Partnership at The British Soap Awards 2025, along with Coronation Street’s Alison King and Vicky Myers (AKA Carla Connor and Lisa Swain), EastEnders’ Rudolph Walker and Angela Wynter (Patrick and Yolande Trueman) and Hollyoaks’ Nathaniel Dass and Oscar Curtis (Dillon Ray and Lucas Hay).
Meanwhile, Beth also gets a nod in the Best Leading Performer category, along with her Emmerdale colleague Eden Taylor-Draper (Belle Dingle) and EastEnders stars Lacey Turner and Kellie Bright (Stacey Slater and Linda Carter).
This won’t be her first time at the event. She first attended when she was part of the now-defunct Channel 5 soap Family Affairs, in which she played "wild child" Sara Warrington from 2000 to 2001.
The role was Beth’s first ever on TV, and she has since had an illustrious career, both on-screen and on-stage.
The actor says that this Saturday’s event will be an opportunity to catch up with two former co-stars, who are currently appearing in EastEnders.
"I’m really excited to see Alex Walkinshaw (Walford’s Ross Marshall)," she says, "because we worked closely together on The Bill (Beth was PC Kerry Young in the ITV police drama, and he was Inspector Dale 'Smithy' Smith).
“And I worked with Paul Bradley (Albert Square’s Nigel Bates) in 2023 Paramount Plus drama The Burning Girls. I hadn’t met him before that, and I really liked him, so I’m excited about seeing him.”
* You can read Beth’s interview in the latest issue of TV Times magazine, currently on sale
* The British Soap Awards 2025 will be screened on ITV1 on Thursday June 5 at 8 pm.
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