Emmerdale star Mike Parr reveals the real reason he returned as Ross Barton – and the job he turned down

EMMERDALE star Mike Parr has revealed the real reason he has returned to the soap as Ross Barton - and the job he turned down for it.

The actor - who plays thug Ross in the ITV soap - made his return after six years away this week in an explosive storyline.

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But having left the soap in 2019 to pursue a career in Hollywood and utilise his joint American citizenship, things didn’t go exactly to plan with covid.

So instead he returned to the UK and has had success in a string of shows and stage productions and always kept Emmerdale in his rear view mirror.

However this year he agreed to return over another job for one simple reason - more job security.

He told the : “I was on a job in India, and I was saying to a cast member, I really want to be in a position where I’m turning down work, and then within the space of a week Emmerdale called, but I also had the option to go on tour with a play. 

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“I had to make a decision in terms of what I wanted to do, and it was the hardest decision of my life! Be careful what you wish for because turning people down was not the position I wanted to be in.”

He added: “I had played both characters before. I had been Ross and then for the play, it was Rita, Sue and Bob Too. We had done it in my hometown in Liverpool. 

“Both have their positives, both have their drawbacks but ultimately, coming back to Emmerdale was a longer contract, it just meant I had a bit more chance of some security which, in this industry, is really hard to come across. 

“I wanted to do both jobs and we tried to see if schedules could work but it wasn’t going to. 

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“Ultimately, I decided to come back to what feels like home and that was Emmerdale.”

Mike also recently said who convinced him to return to the soap - with producer Laura Shaw making all the difference.

He said: “Ultimately, Emmerdale felt like home, and it was a good storyline which they pitched to me. 

“Laura Shaw, our producer, she's very charming, and she put it all out to me, like, this is where we want it to go. 

“This is what we want to do. It meant that I got to move back up north again. It just came at the right time.”