Emmerdale cast members have finally cleared up what led to Steph Miligan’s estrangement with her parents Ruby and Caleb with more to be revealed as she debuts next week

Emmerdale stars have shared a huge glimpse into the past, confirming what led to Ruby and Caleb Miligan’s mystery daughter Stephanie going AWOL for years.

Georgia Jay has been cast in the role of Steph, who hasn’t seen her parents in over a decade after a major falling out. It hasn’t been revealed onscreen what led to this, and why the family members do not speak.

Stephanie was only really mentioned recently by Ruby and Caleb, as well as Ruby’s late mother Helen Fox. It soon emerged Helen was in contact with Steph before she died, leaving Ruby reeling and wondering how and why they were in contact.

More will be revealed as to why Steph is in touch with her grandparents, as Ruby’s father Anthony also debuts next week. But why does Steph not speak to her parents, and after they commented that Steph didn’t want to be near them what exactly went on?

Caleb actor Will Ash and Steph star Georgia spoke to The Mirror and other press recently, discussing the backstory and what led to Steph leaving them behind for 10 years or more. They revealed there was more to be revealed, but shared some details about Steph’s backstory.

Explaining where she has been all this time and what happened, Georgia told us: “She’s been at boarding school, I don’t necessarily know where that is. She’s been away and I’m sure she’s not lived near them, because she’s not seen them for a decade, so I would’ve thought maybe she’s been in London, had a job there.

“But going back to the boarding school, she didn’t have a good time, I think there’s reference to her being bullied and she was miserable, and just didn’t want to be there, she wanted to be at home with her parents. No matter how much she begged not to be there, she wasn’t allowed home.

“So I think that definitely started the whole desire never to see them again – if you left me, I’ll leave you kind of thing. She’s definitely in her thirties, she would’ve left there a long time ago, so since then I would’ve thought she’s been somewhere South with a job and then obviously definitely her yearning for a family is big.”

She teased further: “I think it’s been a decade or so, and there’s definitely some conflict between her and her parents. It’s an exciting storyline to come out, in the sense that the past will be revealed of why she hasn’t been in the picture for so long.”

Will then revealed: “We can say about the backstory – we sent her away basically, she was a really difficult child when she was 13/14, so we sent her off to boarding school to straighten her out almost. It’s quite a brutal thing to do, and she found that really tough and felt abandoned.

“It’s quite interesting that Nicky didn’t go off to boarding school, it was just her. She was getting in a lot of trouble, she’d stolen a car and was just really difficult. Ruby and Steph were really clashing and it was safe to say that it was Ruby that instigated it.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.