Inside Emmerdale newcomer Beth Cordingly’s romance with former ITV soap cast member
Beth Cordingly joined the cast of Emmerdale recently and has been supported by her partner, who was himself on the ITV soap opera a number of years ago for a four year stint
Emmerdale newcomer Beth Cordingly has said she’s been supported over her new role by former cast member Ian Kelsey, whom the actor has been with for three years.
Beth, 47, made her debut on the ITV soap opera earlier this month in the role of Ruby Fox-Miligan. The character has been introduced as the wife of Caleb Miligan (played by William Ash) and the mother of Nicky Miligan (Lewis Cope).
Her partner Ian, 57, was once a cast member himself, having played Dave Glover from 1994 to 1997. His character was romantically involved with both Kathy Tate (Malandra Burrows) and Kim Tate (Claire King). Dave was eventually killed off, after rescuing Kim’s son Jamie Tate from a fire.
Beth Cordingly (right) and Ian Kelsey (left) have been in a relationship for three years (
beth_cordingly/Instagram)
Beth and Ian, who live in Sussex, are said to have first met 20 years ago. They both went on to marry other people, whom they have respectively separated from since, and met again 2021. They celebrated their first year together in 2022.
Alongside a photo, Beth wrote in a post on Instagram at the time: “One year today since this man came back into my life and changed it forever. #Iloveyou #happiness #yours #hot #verypleasedwithmyself.” She included an emoji showing a face blowing a kiss.
Discussing her new role, Beth told the Mirror recently that Ian was “really supportive” about her joining Emmerdale. She said: “There is that thing as an actor where you are always taken away from home. But he totally gets it.”
Beth, pictured with co-star William Ash, shared that her partner has been supportive of her new role on ITV soap opera Emmerdale (
ITV/Mark Bruce)
She added: “He knows a lot of the crew and cast and so it’s lovely to be able to share what I’ve been up to, knowing he understands. That’s important when you are away and he is always keen to find out how filming has gone each day.”
The actor – who previously starred in the Bill – went on to state that they are both “very supportive”. She said in the interview: “We are both very supportive of each other’s careers which is important when it is such a competitive industry.”
Beth and Ian’s characters from Emmerdale are actually connected. Ruby’s husband Caleb is the son of the late Frank Tate (Norman Bowler), who was married to Kim at the time of her affair with Dave more than two decades ago.
Outside of work, Beth and Ian are understood to enjoy motorbiking together, with her having teased that he “rides the bike,” adding: “I just sit back and hold on!” They even shared footage recently from a trip to Normandy on YouTube, with it stated that they travelled on a Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE.
