Emmerdale’s Jeff Hordley explains “brilliant” career turn away from the soap
"It's been a joy to do."
Emmerdale star Jeff Hordley has shared some insights into his life with his wife and co-star Zoe Henry as the couple have become gardening influencers.
Jeff’s family life is a world away from his broody character Cain Dingle on the ITV soap, with him and Zoe curating an allotment in Yorkshire and publishing content on a dedicated Instagram account.
Asked about the wholesome hobby that turned them into influencers, Jeff told Manchester Evening News: “I know! Isn’t it brilliant?”
“It’s been a joy to do,” he added.
The soap veteran said he and Zoe, who plays Rhona Goskirk on Emmerdale, have been doing gardening “for years” together with their adorable, and sometimes disruptive, dogs, Ronald and Geraldine.
“It’s something we’ve done for years. We’ve talked about the idea of doing it for years,” Jeff said.
“And yet, it’s going really well,” he added, proudly sharing that they’ve been featured on BBC’s long-running documentary series Gardeners’ World.
“We’re sharing something that we’ve been doing for years,” he continued. “We feel comfortable sharing that.”
Meanwhile on the soap, Cain is at the centre of a hard-hitting storyline about prostate cancer, which sees the usually closed-off character opening up to his loved ones.
“He’s a man of few words,” the actor says of Cain. “He doesn’t normally open up, so it was a chance to explore something that we’ve not seen with him.”
The soap star also weighed in on sharing screen time with Katie Hill, who plays Cain’s granddaughter Sarah Sugden.
“When I read the cancer stuff, and it was going to be Sarah that he first told, I just believed it,” he said. “I was like, do you know what, this is so right for the path that Katie would take.”
