Emmerdale fans can’t believe star’s real age as soap villain celebrates his birthday with famous wife
EMMERDALE fans were completely shocked, as they couldn’t believe the one former star’s real age.
Robert Beck is known for his role as barman Gavin Ferris in the long-running ITV soap.
He appeared on Emmerdale for a number of months in 1999 before departing the soap before the year 2000.
The actor later made a return to the soap in 2023 as a different character, where he starred as Damon Harris.
His career has also included memorable appearances on Brookside, Hollyoaks, and Waterloo Road.
But today he celebrated turning 56-years-old with his Coronation Street actress wife, Jane Danson.
She is best known for playing the long-running character, Leanne Battersby, after joining the serial drama in 1997.
The pair tied the knot back in 2005, and they share two sons together.
But today Jane, 45, helped her husband celebrate a milestone as she took to social media to celebrate his birthday.
She posted a pair of images of her long-time partner onto her Instagram grid page.
The small album contained one dashing photo from his youth and another more modern snap.
In the second image, Robert beamed as he enjoyed lunch in an exotic abroad location.
She captioned the small album: “Happy birthday my @robertbeck529 56 years young ! Love you forever.”
Fans couldn’t help flood the comments section, as they were completely shocked by his real age.
One fan exclaimed: “Looks more like 46,” along with a shocked face emoji.
“Aging like a fine wine,” stated a second user,
Forgotten soap storylines
The nation's soaps have had many gripping storylines play out over the years. However, some plots proved to be far less memorable. Here are some forgotten stories from Weatherfield, Walford and more...
- Ken and Audrey’s romance (2015): After the death of wife Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride), Coronation Street original Ken Barlow (William Roache) started to move on in his life. He started to develop a spark with old friend Audrey (Sue Nicholls), with then-Corrie boss saying it would be like “Ross and Rachel”. In the end, nothing ever came of it and the two remained platonic pals.
- Beth’s bigamy (2016): Despite being happily married to Kirk (Andrew Whyment), a troubling secret came to light about Beth Tinker (Lisa George). It transpired that she had never divorced from her first husband, Darryl (Paul Loughran), father of her son Craig (Colson Smith). Although Craig and Kirk were shocked – and Beth was arrested – the storyline didn’t didn’t go much further.
- Kat Slater’s secret son (2017): Capitalising on the popularity of Kat (Jessie Wallace) and Alfie (Shane Richie), the two received a spin-off back in 2017. Titled ‘Redwater’, it saw the two travel to Ireland where they met long-lost son Luke, now called Dermott Dolan, played by Oisín Stack. Despite the high-tension events during Redwater, Kat seems to have put the experience behind her as Dermott’s not been mentioned since.
- Alfie’s brain tumour (2015): Having learned in 2015 that he had a brain tumour, Alfie kept the news from Kat until their trip to Ireland. At the time, actor Shane Ritchie revealed fans would see a change in Alfie as he battled the illness. It would appear that at some point after leaving the Square, was told the tumour was non-malignant. By the time Alfie returned in 2022, fans were left confused over what had happened to the storyline.
- Kathy and Buster’s affair (2016): In 2016, Walford legend Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) fell into the arms of convict Buster Briggs, played by Karl Howman. Buster was the long-time lover of Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) and fathered both her sons – Mick (Danny Dyer) and Dean (Matt Di Angelo). When Buster left, he begged Kathy to join him, but she refused for the sake of her family. Meanwhile Buster didn’t even stop to say goodbye to Shirley before exiting with a broken heart. Fans expected a showdown between the two women, but this never came to pass.
- Jacob’s OCD (2016): After his dad, David (Matthew Wolfenden), was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016, Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This manifested in the form of cleaning. Jacob’s OCD made a brief return one year on, after David had another scare after finding a lump. Jacob frantically searched the bins for a “lucky coin” that had accidentally been thrown away. Despite stressful situations – such as being groomed by his teacher Maya, losing his fiancee Leanna to a serial killer, dealing with mum Leyla’s drug addiction, and surviving a stabbing – the condition doesn’t appear to have returned.
- Marlon and Charity’s fling (2003): Few fans would likely remember few will remember the one-night stand between Charity (Emma Atkins) and Marlon (Mark Charnock) in 2003. The pair slept together when Charity was staying with Marlon while still under suspicion for husband Chris’s supposed “murder”.
- Alex Browning’s revenge plot (2014): Fans expected a confrontation when Dr Browning’s son Alex (Ojan Genc) mer stepmum Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe). After all, Mercedes, with Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring) and Lindsey Butterfield (Sophie Austin) had murdered Alex’s dad, double-murderer Dr Paul Browning, after he kidnapped and attacked his new wife. In fact, the soap teased Alex would seek revenge for his father’s death upon arriving. However, he instead gave Cindy’s son Hilton (his half-brother) a life-saving transplant, became his godfather, and leaving the village soon after.
Meanwhile, a third gushed: “56!!! He still looks like a youngster!!”
While a fourth fan jokingly commented: “Happy Birthday Rob. You do not look your 56 years, @realjanedanson obviously looks after you well.”
As a fifth added: “Ohhhhhh I used to have him on my bedroom wall when I was a teenager.”
They added: “He still looks great xxx.”