TV star’s new role worlds away from Emmerdale two years after shock exit

Emmerdale star Dean Andrews is back on our TV screens, but his new character is worlds away from Will Taylor.

Soap fans will remember Will as the husband of Kim Tate (Claire King) and father of Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley).

He arrived in the Dales in 2019 and was part of some major storylines, the last of which resulted in his shock exit in 2024.

During his stint in the Dales, Will reconnected with Harriet Finch, before he learned that she’d been having an affair with dodgy DI Malone and called off the engagement.

He was horrified to discover that his past mistakes had caught up with him and resulted in Dawn killing DI Malone in self-defence.

After taking on a job as groundskeeper at Home Farm, Will began to fall for Kim, and they eventually married, though their relationship was far from smooth going.

The downfall of the relationship began with the return of Dawn’s mum, Rose Jackson, who had been paid by Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly) to come between Will and Kim.

Their relationship took a downward spiral from there, with the pair opting to get divorced, before ultimately having a change of heart and deciding to renew their wedding vows.

However, things took a turn when Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) made an unexpected return and revealed that the whole thing had been a scam set up by Will.

The argument that followed turned tragic when Will unexpectedly collapsed and died from a heart attack.

Now, actor Dean Andrews is starring in Channel 5 drama series Number One Fan, alongside soap alumni Jill Halfpenny and Sally Lindsay, and his character couldn’t be more of a contrast from Will.

Number One Fan is a psychological thriller that follows daytime TV presenter Lucy Logan (Jill Halfpenny) as she is stalked by obsessive fan Donna (Sally Lindsay).

Dean is playing the role of Stewart Jones, a disgraced TV star with a vendetta against Lucy, who has been living as a recluse since his show was cancelled.

The series has so far received a mixed response from viewers, with some calling it ‘ridiculously bad’ but ‘weirdly intriguing’.