Emmerdale star Jeff Hordley says a separate career away from the ITV soap has been his “saviour” during uncertain times as an actor

Emmerdale star Jeff Hordley has been DJing for a number of years alongside his role as Cain Dingle.

The 54-year-old says he took on the role when he was “a young actor” finding his way in the industry, and still continues to play across venues in Leeds.

“I DJ a lot, that’s been my out of work acting job for years,” he shared.

Reflecting on the earlier stages of his second career, he added: “I DJed for many years at a club in Manchester called the Rock ‘N’ Roll bar.

“It [was] my saviour really, in terms of being a young actor, because I didn’t have to sign on.

“I could earn decent money by DJing at this nightclub on a Friday night and I was lucky enough to… over that period, we had guests every week. It was quite a well-known club in Manchester.”

Addressing the misconception of him having a separate career, he added on the Another Day Another Collar podcast: “I think people sometimes think that I’m a DJ because it’s like, ‘Oh you’re doing that because you’re an actor and you’re trading off the back of you being an actor’.

“It’s like no, actually, I’ve done this forever, and I’ve always been into music and music was always a big passion for me.”

Jeff says alongside filming for Emmerdale, he still DJs in “small bars” in Leeds, mostly playing tracks of disco genre.

The actor may be thankful for his second job more than ever before, should his character be one of the residents who die in the soap’s new crash storyline.

Upcoming scenes will show several villagers fearing for their lives when two limos they’re travelling in steer off the road, and one finds itself balancing on a frozen lake.

As a result, at least one of the residents are expected to die, while another remains trapped beneath the icy depths.

Sharing his thoughts about the upcoming storyline, Jeff admitted he was “worried” for Cain’s future.

He told The Sun: “I’m worried all the time! Not all the time, that’s a little bit over the top.

“Every time there’s news of this it can unsettle us as a cast because we know the shelf life of characters is not forever in soaps, and it’s down to the producers or the writers to steer the ship and take us in the direction they want to take us.”

Meanwhile, his on-screen cousin Lisa Riley let slip that there had been “sad” goodbyes following the crash.

The Mandy Dingle star told Woman’s Weekly magazine: “The crash results in some of my dear friends leaving the show, which is always heartbreaking.”

Emmerdale airs tonight at 7.30pm on ITV and ITVX.