This longtime Emmerdale star says he was unhappy on the soap for years

He's a firm favourite among viewers.

After 23 years on the soap, one of Emmerdale’s longest-running cast members has revealed that not all of them were good. James Hooton who plays Sam Dingle on the soap, says that he’s much happier on the show as of late after years of being unhappy at work. In his most recent interview with Digital Spy, James revealed that having people like Karen Blick, who plays Lydia Hart, join the show has turned things around for him.

“Meeting people like Karen has changed my outlook on work,” he said. “It’s been 23 years off and on I’ve been involved in the show and obviously a lot of water goes under that bridge over that time. “I’ve gone through many years when I’ve not enjoyed the job as much as I might have done, and it’s been a bit of a renaissance period for me as I’m enjoying the job more so than I ever have done.

“And I think that’s in part down to working with Karen and what she brings to the table. “We’ve got a lot of things in common. We’ve both got kids and we can chat about things like that.”

The actor says he chose to remain on the soap all these years as there were no other acting roles that interested him. Next week will see Sam revisit one of his most heartbreaking storylines as he reveals to his son, Samson, that he helped Alice end her life back in 2006 after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.