Actor Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle, could be one of the key players in tonight’s two hour Emmerdale special – but what do we know about the very private man?

Soap lovers are in for a treat tonight with a two hour Emmerdale special on ITV.

It looks like there’s going to be an epic showdown in the village as the long-running storyline involving Tom King and his revenge plan on Belle Dingle and her whole family. So what drama will the Dales see this festive season? Character Marlon, played by Mark Charnock, has been at the very heart of village life since he arrived in 1996, and, having followed his various trials and tribulations over the years, many viewers almost feel as though they know him personally. But away from the Dales, actor Mark prefers to keep his life private, and he rarely shares details about his marriage or family life.

Mark is private in real life, unlike his character Marlon (Image: markcharnock/Instagram)

Rarely-seen wife

As per TV.com, Bolton-born Mark has been married to his wife for a number of years, and they were married in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The couple also allegedly have one son together. Although little is known about Mark’s family life, he’ll often share updates on Instagram about his various behind-the-scenes interests, which appear to include gardening, reading, and animals.

Mark will often receive visits from an adorable Goldern Labrador named Freddie, believed to belong to a family member. The sweet pooch makes frequent Instagram appearances on Mark’s Instagram, much to fans’ delight. Much like his onscreen counterpart, Mark also appears to have a love of food and cooking, and will often upload pics of his delicious-looking bakes and treats.

Pooch Freddie is often seen on his Instagram – and people love him (Image: Instagram)

Real age

Mark was just 28 years old when he joined the beloved ITV soap, and he’s still only 55 – making his recent stroke storyline even more powerful. In an informative video about his character’s ordeal, Mark emphasised that strokes can happen to people of “any age”, encouraging people to look out for tell-tale symptoms. According to Mark: “Emmerdale has worked with some amazing people on this storyline, including the Stroke Association, clinicians and survivors, people who have actually been through it.

“Now strokes can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time and they happen every five minutes in the UK. 50 percent of survivors are dependant on others for their everyday needs and sadly one in seven strokes are fatal. Hopefully there is some really helpful information we can take from Marlon’s story, the most important is the acronym F.A.S.T, we can use this to identify symptoms of a stroke in you or someone else.” The acronym here stands for: face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, and time to call 999.

The Big Soap Quiz: Coronation Street v Emmerdale airs tonight at 8pm on ITV