Emmerdale actress Beth Cordingly has revealed an unexpected connection to This Morning presenter Ben Shephard, surprising fans with just how far back their friendship goes.

Although it’s not uncommon for actors in the world of soaps and showbiz to cross paths through drama school or brief appearances, Beth — who plays fan favourite Ruby Miligan — shared that her bond with Ben stretches back many years.

During her appearance on This Morning today (May 7) to talk about the latest happenings in Emmerdale, Beth had the chance to reunite with Ben live on air, making the moment even more special for viewers

Beth revealed the surprise connection to her followers (Credit: ITV)

Emmerdale Beth Cordingly reunites with This Morning host

Beth took to her Instagram to share that she was going to be on This Morning to talk about Emmerdale. And in doing so, she revealed she actually knows Ben Shephard.

It turns out the pair actually went to university together in Birmingham, and have remained friends ever since. But it had been a while since they saw each other, so Beth was excited to reunite with him.

On an Instagram video, she said: “I’m going to have to control my excitement tomorrow because I’m going to be on This Morning being interviewed by the wonderful Sharon Marshall.

“But what’s even more exciting for me is that Ben Shephard is one of my oldest friends from uni, so I will have to control my excitement. He’s a really really good mate of mine from old times. I’m looking forward to it.”

Fans were shocked at the connection between them. One fan commented: “I had no idea you both knew each other. It will be a fab interview then!”

Then earlier today, after Beth appeared on the show, she once again took to Instagram to share how happy she was to have been reunited, gushing about her former uni friend.

Sharing a series of snaps from her interview, Beth wrote: “What a gorgeous time I had with the glorious Sharon Marshall, the amazing Cat Deeley, and my old friend from uni Ben Shephard. We all adore him – as you can see from this picture of me being a cling-on.

“Joyous and fun. Thank you This Morning. I had such a happy time.”

Ben and Beth were reunited today (Credit: ITV)

 Ruby is involved in huge storylines currently

Beth is currently up for the best leading performer award at the British Soap Awards, which takes place later this month.

Since joining the show, she has been involved in extremely important and heartbreaking storylines. It was revealed that Ruby was sexually abused by her dad when she was a teen, which resulted in the birth of her daughter, Steph. However, Ruby murdered Anthony, and the body remains hidden by secret killer John.

And on top of that, Ruby is also on the suspect list for the Joe Tate whodunnit storyline, which kicks off this week. But whether or not she is the one who strikes against him remains to be seen.