Emmerdale actor Dean Andrews recovering after op

Rotherham-based actor Dean Andrews, who plays the bullish Will Taylor in the series, has been on the operating table at a Sheffield hospital.

As he recovered, he went on to his Instagram account to post that he was “very happy to have woken up” after the procedure.

Was he saying this tongue in cheek - or was it indeed a major operation?

In a typically dramatic narrative, he's not really letting on.

He simply wrote: “Surgery went well. Very happy to have woken up (with a laughing emoji.)

“Many thanks to my surgeon Chris and all the staff @thornburyhospital”

Some media outlets have decided it was serious.

The Metro suggested the 60-year-old "underwent major surgery after being rushed to hospital, dutifully reporting that the actor “looked weak but happy as he gave a smile and two thumbs up to the camera, wearing a hospital gown and with a cannula inserted”.

Dean, who has played the role of the ex-convict and drug dealer Emmerdale for five years, had thousands of messages of support and comfort.

One was from his daughter Sharny writing: “Well done for being so brave.”

The soap star, a former pupil at Sitwell Junior and Oakwood Comprehensive Schools, has plenty of good things to look forward to. He and Helen - joint owner at House of Rose Bespoke, of Todwick, and India Rose Luxury Hair and Beauty Ltd, of Whiston - were married last year in Bolton Abbey in the Skipton area, around 25 miles from where the Yorkshire programme is filmed.