Emmerdale's Bob Hope's real life off-screen - homeless, sad death and weightloss
Emmerdale resident Bob Hope has become a fan favourite since making his first appearance on the ITV soap back in 2000, and has starred in some of the show's biggest storylines.
This week is no different, as the fallout from his discovery of Wendy and Liam's secretive affair leads Bob fighting for his life in hospital, after lashing out in a tense confrontation.
But outside of the Dales, Tony Audenshaw - who has played Bob for over 20 years - has experienced his fair share of setbacks and highs and lows, both in his personal life and acting career.
From tragically losing his late wife to cancer to sleeping rough as a teen, here is everything we know about Tony away from his leading Emmerdale role.
Emmerdale's Bob Hope is caught in another huge storyline as he suffers a heart attack after confronting LiamSleeping rough
Before getting involved in a homelessness storyline on the soap, Tony experienced sleeping rough at a young age. The Lancashire-born actor revealed that he could not afford to stay in a BnB when he worked in Thorpe Park back in the 1980s, so was forced to sleep in his car in order to make ends meet.
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On Loose Women in 2019, Bob explained to the panel: "I used to work at Thorpe Park, the theme park, I use to be the Thorpe Park rangers and do the voices. Up North things are much cheaper. I came down here in the 80s, and it was £70 for a BNB. If I was down for five nights I would sleep in the car, because I didn't have much money coming in.
"I'd never do it two nights on the trot because you couldn't really function well. It was Monday in a B&B, Tuesday in the car - the things you saw in those car parks, torches in the window." Tony said he felt the show had dealt "subtly" with homelessness, adding: "This thing can happen to anybody."
Tony Audenshaw revealed that he experienced homelessness and slept in his car when he was younger (ITV)Tragic death
Tony sadly lost his wife Ruth to cancer in April 2017, when she was 43 years old, after a 16-month battle with the disease. Tony and Ruth had been married since 1996 and had two children together, a son George and a daughter Emily. After her passing, Tony spoke out about how Ruth was adamant to help others in her final days, and made sure some of her cells were harvested to be used in cancer research trials.
On ITV's This Morning in 2022, he opened up about his tragic loss and the early signs of pancreatic cancer to raise awareness with viewers. He told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that his wife's tumour was initially said to be "inoperable". While the couple did then manage to find a doctor who could remove the tumour with surgery, the cancer had unfortunately spread to other parts of Ruth's body.
"Part of the thing when you have surgery is that you can't have chemotherapy for a little while because, obviously chemotherapy kills the good cells as well as the bad cells, so while it was all clinging together, some cells got loose," he explained. "It was quite devastating, because it was probably two months after the operation that we found out it had spread already."
Tony tragically lost his late wife Ruth to pancreatic cancer in 2017 and now devotes his time to raise awareness of the disease (Daily Mirror)Tony said that he has decided to "live life like you are retired" since her death, spurred on by her positive attitude amid her diagnosis. "Ruth went on her last harsh chemotherapy and there were days when she was really tired and couldn't do much, but on the days where she felt good, she was doing stuff," he said.
"She met up with friends, she carried on cycling because she loved cycling and it was a case of not being stuck in the hospital all the time or going for appointments all the time, getting out on that bike and feeling the wind on her hair. It was just brilliant, we did loads of stuff, we went on loads of breaks and when she was well enough, we did things."
Tony now devotes much of his spare time to raising money and awareness for Pancreatic Cancer UK. He joined the Emmerdale marathon team not long after starting on the show, supporting Blood Cancer UK and has run more than 50 marathons.
Weight loss
Last year, Tony revealed that he "had to lose two stone" for a stripping scene at a hen-do in the Woolpack, after worrying about how the nation would judge his topless body. Speaking on the Emmerdale 50th anniversary documentary, he admitted that he felt a little self-conscious stripping down to his boxers on TV.
"Ugh, I remember being in the canteen and somebody coming up and saying 'for this stripping storyline' and you're like 'oh, you don't know what shape you're going to be'. You've got like three weeks to try and lose two stone," he said. But he went on to say that he'd almost forgotten about it all when it finally aired six weeks after filming.
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Tony has played numerous other soap roles but his most famous character of all time is BobSoap roles
Before landing the lead role as Bob, Tony played a security guard called Acky in Emmerdale back in 1996. He also starred on Channel 4 soap Brookside, taking on the character of PC Ian Coben. Other television credits include Where the Heart is, Hetty Wathropp Investigates, Peak Practice and Heartbeat.
Outside of his acting career, Tony has his own band called White Van Man, who gig in pubs and at events, and is also an avid runner. He finished the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham in an impressive 3 hours, 54 minutes and 29 seconds.
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