Mark Jordon: Arrest ordeal, children’s health battles, and return to Emmerdale
Mark returned to Emmerdale this week after five years away
Mark Jordon makes a brief return to Emmerdale this week, as Daz Spencer comes back to the village to collect his daughter, Amelia.
Amelia has decided to move to Leicester with her dad, and start afresh after her ordeal with Tom King. So Daz came back to the village to help her pack.
Mark Jordon, who plays Daz, came back for just one episode after five years away. So we thought it was time to recap everything we know about the actor, including why he left Emmerdale and where he’s been.
Mark Jordon’s early career
After being a jobbing actor for a few years, Mark became a household name when he won the role of PC Phil Bellamy in the cosy 1990s drama Heartbeat. He played PC Bellamy from 1992 until 2007 and appeared in more than 300 episodes of the show!
He also played PC Bellamy in Heartbeat spin-off The Royal.
Mark’s appeared in Casualty, Holby City, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Doctors over the years.
And in 2014, he joined Emmerdale as troublesome Daz Spencer. His first stint in the soap wasn’t a long one, but in 2017 he returned, this time staying for two years.
Mark’s personal life
Mark met his partner Laura Norton – who plays Kerry Wyatt – during his time at Emmerdale.
He had been married previously, to Happy Valley star Siobhan Finneran. Mark and Siobhan have two children together, who are now in their 20s – Poppy and Joseph. They divorced in 2014.
Children’s health battles
Mark and Laura have two young children. Both their son Jesse and their daughter Ronnie have been diagnosed with Usher Syndrome. Usher Syndrome is a rare genetic disease that affects hearing and vision.
Both Mark and Laura have become patrons of the Cure Usher Syndrome charity and have thrown themselves into raising awareness of the condition.
Mark’s arrest
In 2018, Mark Jordon was accused of attacking Andrew Potts outside a pub called the Farrars Arms in Oldham.
A jury at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court found the actor not guilty of affray, unlawful wounding and assault by beating. He had denied the charges and said he acted in self-defence.
Speaking outside court, Mark said he was pleased his “awful ordeal” had ended.
The jury members were told that Mark had been involved in a row which started in a beer garden, where Mark and Laura were celebrating their engagement.
The court heard that Andrew Potts had made what Mark said were “vile comments” about his daughter and CCTV footage showed Mr Jordon having to be held back as he tried to grab Andrew Potts’ phone.
Later, the pair came face to face again and jurors were told Mark Jordon bit Andrew Potts in a scuffle. He told the jury it was “not planned, regretful and in the moment”. Mark Jordon suffered a broken wrist.
Mark was written out of Emmerdale following the allegations. When the verdicts were read out, Mark Jordon was tearful, and speaking outside court later, he said he was looking forward to getting back to his career.
Since then he has appeared in ITV’s Yorkshire Ripper drama, The Long Shadow, on stage and now on Emmerdale once more.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an early release at 7am on ITVX.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs weekdays at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm on ITV3.
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