Inside Emmerdale's Colleen King star's life on TV, theatre school, famous son
Actress Melanie Ash rose to fame after sporadically appearing in Emmerdale in 2004 as Colleen King, the ex-wife of Carl King, with whom she shared two children, Thomas and Anya.
She returned in January 2010 with the kids in a more prominent role, however, to visit her second husband, Stefan, who had been injured in a work accident, but her time on the ITV soap was short-lived. Colleen's exit storyline three months later saw the character tell Carl of her plans to emigrate to Saudi Arabia, before she departed with their offspring the following day.
Although she hasn't appeared on show for 13 years, news of her death sent shockwaves through the village earlier this week. Son Thomas, 27, who is now back in the Dales, told residents he believed she passed away from a heart attack. Now, we look back at Melanie's life away from the Yorkshire village.
Melanie went on to feature in a number of shows including Doctors, Casualty and Ackley BridgeTV roles
Melanie has appeared in several big name shows over the years, including Ackley Bridge, Casualty and Doctors. Arguably her biggest role, however, saw her star as Sue Hodgkins in Coronation Street.
Swapping the Dales for Weatherfield, Melanie famously played a part in the break-up of Leanne Battersby and Kal Nazir in 2014. She also made a couple of appearances in crime drama, The Bay, two years earlier.
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Theatre school
Away from acting, Melanie established her own theatre school in 2005, which she named Meladrama. Based in Bolton, Lancashire, it has provided a platform for youngsters to develop their skills, with many going on secure roles in the industry.
Keen to discover and champion emerging talent in her native North West, she explained: "I'm really passionate about giving kids like me opportunities. It's such a hard industry anyway – but even tougher for kids from the north, which is wrong as the areas we have classes – Preston, Chorley, Warrington, and now Bolton, are absolutely screaming with raw talent."
Famous son
Following in his mum's footsteps is Melanie's 15-year old son, Leo Ashton. The youngster is already making waves in the acting world, almost racking up almost as many credits as Melanie already.
The teen landed the role of Prince Aemond Targaryen in Game of Thrones, before enjoying a stint in 2022 teenage horror drama, Red Rose. And like his mother, Leo boasts both Doctors and The Bay appearances on his growing CV.
He has also expressed a desire to play James Bond in the future, declaring on his Instagram account: "Always wanted to play James Bond since I was like three, Yea mum let me watch James Bond as a toddler .. So blame her if I’m a pyscho in [House of the Dragon].
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