Emmerdale star shares how he kept return secret - code names to family lie
Emmerdale's Aaron Dingle made a shock return to the ITV soap this week, with Danny Miller reprising the role a year after his exit.
Aaron is making a permanent return to the show for a dark new storyline, with Danny thrilled to be back with the show. But the soap kept the news under wraps for months it seems, with few people knowing the truth ahead of transmission. Danny even kept the news from those closest to him, wanting to pull off an epic twist.
Viewers knew a return for one character could be on the cards after Cain Dingle and Caleb Miligan were revealed to be keeping a hostage at a disused barn. It was made clear we knew who the hostage was, but fans of the show were not told who it was and why they were there until Monday night.
In the episode, we found out that Aaron was in the barn after Caleb and Cain brought him home from Italy, following him getting into trouble with the wrong people. But the return has been in the pipeline for months, with Danny confirming it was planned back in January just months after he appeared to leave for good following Aaron's sister Liv Flaherty's tragic death.
Speaking to The Mirror and other press ahead of the announcement airing on the show, Danny told us exactly how he and the show kept his comeback quiet. Only those in the scenes with him knew initially about him coming back, and viewers were kept in the dark until it aired.
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Emmerdale's Aaron Dingle actor Danny Miller made a surprise comeback on the ITV soap this week (ITV)Danny also kept the news from loved ones, even concealing the truth about his recent relocation and his new home with his wife and two young children. He explained that from changing his work routes, concealing where he was for weeks while filming and playing down a possible return, he took big steps - with cast left confused over mystery names appearing on scripts too.
He said: "Yes, because when [former executive producer] Jane Hudson and [producer] Laura Shaw pitched the idea to come back, I was over the moon and so excited. But they said: 'There is something we want to do with it, which means that you're going to have to keep it quiet'.
"This was at the beginning of the year, so it's been months of not being able to tell people. This has been months of not being able to tell people and relocating the family but not being able to tell people where I’ve moved to. Some of my closest friends and family don't even know what I've been up to, so it's been hard to do but the respect and appreciation for the show meant that I wanted to keep the secret.
Cain is holding Aaron in the barn (ITV)"I wanted to be part of something that will hopefully be a shocking soap moment, so that made it easier because I knew that people would understand. I really want to commit to the show and show how much I love it." Danny apologised to his family on Twitter after the scenes aired, adding: "Sorry to all my friends and family for lying about where I’ve been the last 8 weeks but once again…"
Danny also spoke exclusively to The Mirror, and told us about the code names used to conceal who he was in scripts, keeping the secret from cast and crew. He spilled: "I am excited to finally be able to talk about my return to Emmerdale playing Aaron. It’s so good to be back permanently.
"Everyone wanted to keep it a secret and I loved this idea, so I was given two code names on the scripts – Albert Jones which I am guessing they got from my wife’s maiden name and son, and then Wylie Smith is the other alias as he starts at Wylie Farm. And you would be surprised how many people didn’t clock on to who it was at first!
"Dominic, who plays Paddy, said to me: ‘I didn’t understand who this Wylie was. I thought Chas had another son who they brought back! Its soap isn’t it? It is believable a long-lost son comes back into it!’"
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.* Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on , , , , and .
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