Cain adores KYLE

JEFF HORDLEY on Cain's special bond with his son, and his shock decision

EMMERDALE

MONDAY-FRIDAY, 7.30PM, ITV1 SOAP

He may not have won any Father of the Year awards, but it can't be denied that Emmerdale's Cain Dingle loves his kids. So that makes it all the more shocking when the mechanic says he wants to sever ties with his 11-year-old son Kyle.

Forced to confront his failings as a dad, Cain is adamant that the lad would be better off without him, and should be raised by his biological mother, Amy Wyatt. Can anyone talk him round, or is Cain and Kyle's special bond about to be broken for ever?

Here, in an exclusive interview, actor Jeff Hordley, who turns 53 on 7 March, talks to TV Times about Cain's big decision, and why the time has come for his alter ego to finally grow up...

Last week, Cain vowed to fight Amy after discovering she wanted sole custody of Kyle. What causes him to make such a U-turn?

Cain hears about an altercation between Kyle and Carl [Holliday, son of Jimmy King and stepson of Nicola], and he storms round to Nicola's house because she's threatening to report Kyle to the police. He's trying to defend his son, but I think he scares Nicola by being quite threatening.

There's a bit of an epiphany that Kyle is going to end up like him if Kyle carries on witnessing the way that Cain behaves. That's a lot to do with the things Amy says to him, but there's also a lot of selfloathing on Cain's part. He knows that he flies off the handle. Kyle is witnessing this constantly, and now he's starting to hit out at people. Cain thinks, Maybe that's down to me. It's a big moment for Cain to admit that to himself.

Is part of this decision linked to what happened last October, when Kyle saw Cain and Al Chapman fighting, and accidentally shot and killed Al?