Emmerdale’s Ryan Hawley revealed that he “cancelled” his 40th birthday so he could be a part of Corriedale.

Actor Ryan Hawley reprised his Emmerdale role as Robert Sugden earlier this year after six years away from the ITV soap. Robert was sentenced in 2019 for the death of Lee Posner, and he swiftly cut off contact with Victoria Sugden and ex-husband Aaron Dingle.

His return came as Aaron was set to marry ex-Army medic John Sugden, and although Robert attempted to get Aaron back his efforts were rejected as Aaron vowed to move on without him.

The pair attempted to get things back on track, however, as John recently fled the country after his harrowing crimes were exposed – including the murder of Nate Robinson, holding Mackenzie Boyd captive, and framing Robert for throwing himself and Aaron over the edge of a cliff.

Just as Aaron hoped that him and Robert could start again, another obstacle was thrown into the mix. That obstacle being Robert’s prison husband, Kev Townsend.

Kev eventually left after Robert pledged his loyalty to Aaron, but the drama was far from over. Both John and Kev returned to win back their husbands, but Kev found himself being held hostage by the villain.

In recent episodes, John also managed to tie Aaron and Robert up and the latest instalment ended with Robert pointing a loaded gun towards John. This comes just before Corriedale – the highly-anticipated crossover between Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

This is to celebrate the new “soap power hour” where the ITV soaps will air every weeknight for 30 minutes with no hour-long episodes. Corrie and Emmerdale will join forces for this one-off special episode.

At the premiere in Bradford, some of the stars sat for a panel hosted by Rishi Davda who asked them questions about the explosive crossover.

Discussing when the episode was filmed, Ryan admitted: “Well, actually, it was my 40th birthday, and I cancelled it. So, because they said, you know, there’s that (the crossover), I was like, well, yeah, I kind of want to be part of that.

“After having seen it, I’m immensely proud, not just to be part of it, but to be part of an incredible cast, who I thought every single person was just incredible. And it’s amazing what we can do. I’m really proud. Wow.”

While sharing that he doesn’t usually like to watch himself acting, Ryan added: “I don’t particularly enjoy the experience, but honestly, I was blown away by how good everyone was and how everyone just enjoys working with Duncan (Foster, director of Emmerdale and Coronation Street) because you know 100% you can trust him, and he’ll get a great performance out of you.

“He knows absolutely everything. He knows how every moment’s gonna work. You just put your trust in him, and he’s delivered clearly. I was blown away by what I read and what I was just seeing now. So to have the vision to know that that’s gonna work is, I find that incredible. Incredible, incredible talent.”