![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_HO-EP-6599-FROGGY-STRICTLY-EMBARGOED-UNTIL-29TH-JULY-LIMEPICTURES-4JPG.jpg\")
John Middleton has gone from vicar to villain with a new role in Hollyoaks(Image: Lime Pictures)<\/p>\nJohn Middleton takes a bold step as he goes from vicar to villain in C4 soap Hollyoaks. The former Emmerdale legend has spoken about his time on set and his role as Froggy Black.<\/p>\n
05:00, 25 Aug 2025Updated 07:49, 25 Aug 2025<\/p>\n
John Middleton has gone from vicar to villain with a new role in Hollyoaks(Image: Lime Pictures)<\/p>\n
He played much-loved vicar Ashley Thomas in Emmerdale for 20 years, but now John Middleton<\/a> has taken on a much darker role as Fraser \u201cFroggy\u201d Black \u2013 grandfather to villainess Grace Black and her sister Clare Devine \u2013 in Hollyoaks<\/a>.<\/p>\n After years in Longmere Prison, Froggy is finally out \u2013 and heading straight back into the heart of his fractured family. \u201cHe does want to bring the family together,\u201d John, 71, says. \u201cFor what purpose, that\u2019s yet to be revealed. But he wants to restore the relationship between Clare and Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the highlights of his new role, John says, is working with Tamara Wall<\/a> and Gemma Bissix<\/a>, who play Grace and Clare. \u201cThey ask me, \u2018What do you tell your wife when you go back home?\u2019”, John shares.<\/p>\n “I say, \u2018I don\u2019t tell her anything. I sit in a corner, occasionally hugging my knees and rocking backwards and forwards,\u2019\u201d he jokes. \u201cThey\u2019re a laugh to work with!\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Scottish brand has shoppers ‘stop using shower gel’ for natural alternative<\/a> Froggy made his first appearance in the Chester-based show in early August, seen behind bars with Tom Cunningham, whom he\u2019d taken under his wing as a financial advisor.<\/p>\n When his granddaughters were arrested for their part in Clare\u2019s husband\u2019s trafficking ring, the reunion was icy. Still, Froggy was determined to win over Grace \u2013 despite his hatred for Clare.<\/p>\n Now, John teases that Froggy could blow the village apart. \u201cHe knows things, particularly about one particular person,\u201d John says. \u201cThe past being revealed would be catastrophic for their present.<\/p>\n He knows something about people he\u2019s most closely working with, which is going to be revealed. He knows a lot of secrets, he knows where all the bodies are buried \u2013 quite literally.<\/p>\n His past is possibly murderous, his present is possibly vengeful. Froggy is totally unpredictable. You never know what he\u2019s going to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n With secrets come enemies \u2013 but Froggy isn\u2019t fazed. \u201cHe\u2019s an incredibly manipulative person so the fact he\u2019s got enemies doesn\u2019t bother him,\u201d John admits. \u201cThe fact that he has control over his enemies is essential to him.\u201d<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t John\u2019s first brush with Hollyoaks . In 1997 he popped up as Cindy Cunningham\u2019s doctor \u2013 a role he admits he\u2019d forgotten about.<\/p>\n His soap career was then peppered with cameos. In the 1990s he appeared twice in Coronation Street<\/a> \u2013 first as John Hargreaves, the driver who accidentally killed Lisa Duckworth, and later as a hospital consultant. Even Emmerdale<\/a> wasn\u2019t entirely new to him when he took on Ashley\u2019s role.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a policeman about a year and a half before becoming Ashley,\u201d he says. \u201cBut Froggy is a completely different character, which is why I\u2019m doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n John says the whole Hollyoaks team made his transition easy. And though he still struggles with nerves, executive producer Hannah Cheers has assured him he\u2019s in the right place.<\/p>\n \u201cYou adjust quickly to it and it was helped because everyone here is lovely,\u201d he says. \u201cMy first few scenes, I was nervous. I was completely reassured when I bumped into Hannah and she said, \u2018I really love what you\u2019re doing.\u2019 That was a great relief!\u201d<\/p>\n Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok<\/a>, Snapchat<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, YouTube<\/a> and Threads<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_FROGGY-AND-TOM-LIMEPICTURESJPG.jpg\")
John made his Hollyoaks debut in August as Fraser “Froggy” Black(Image: Lime Pictures)<\/p>\n![\"He](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756110548_941_0_Emmerdale.jpg\")
He was once known as Ashley Thomas in Emmerdale (Image: ITV)<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_EMMERDALE-1918.jpg\")
John portrayed Ashley Thomas, the husband of Laurel Thomas, until his exit in 2017(Image: ITV)<\/p>\n