Emmerdale newcomers both have links to other soaps
Reece Dinsdale and Mark Womack are joining the cast
There are two new faces arriving in Emmerdale this spring, and while both will be familiar to audiences they also have other links to the small world of soap you may not be aware of.
Reece Dinsdale is joining up as Paul, who shares a mysterious past with Mandy Dingle and her 'pretend' son Vinny, but he has the dubious honour of being one of Gail's many doomed husbands in Coronation Street.
He played Joe McIntyre, introduced in 2008 as the father of Michelle Keegan's character Tina who went on to tie the knot with gullible Gail in 2010.
Steeped in debt due to a painkiller addiction, Joe convinced his bride to embark on an insurance scam by faking his death and going into hiding - only the boating accident he staged went wrong and he died for real. Police found evidence of his fraud plot and guilty-looking Gail was jailed for being in on it.
More recently, Dinsdale has stepped behind the camera to become a director and helmed a number of episodes of Emmerdale itself. Commenting it was "Time to get my acting boots back on!", he said he was excited by his new role.
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"Having directed a couple of episodes, and seen at close quarters the superb work the cast, crews and creatives produce, I can't wait to become part of the team once again - albeit in a different capacity."
The second new arrival is brooding bad boy copper DI Malone, played by Liverpool 1 and Murphy's Law star Mark Womack, who is the real-life husband of Samantha Womack who played EastEnders' Ronnie Mitchell.
"It's always fun to be the bad guy and Malone definitely falls into that category," said the actor. "I'm looking forward to the audience seeing my character's twisted tale unfold on screen."
Teasing more about Paul and Malone, Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw said: "Both characters are very different but come with huge stories that will see lives changed and big explosions in 2020.
"We are all very excited to see these two hugely talented and experienced actors grace our screens, and are absolutely thrilled to have them joining the Emmerdale family."
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