John Middleton stopped watching \'Emmerdale\' as soon as his character was killed off to "shut the door" on that chapter of his career.
The 65-year-old actor bowed out of the ITV soap last year after more than 20 years on the show when his character Ashley Thomas died following a battle with dementia, and he admits he needed to stop watching the programme to "get [his] head round" the fact he had departed the series.
He said: "I don\'t watch it I\'m afraid. It\'s not because I don\'t think its good, I think it\'s absolutely terrific and everyone else thinks that as much as me.
"But I had to shut the door on that and put it behind me and move onto the next thing.
"It needed to be as abrupt as that, really.
"Just for my own peace of mind, getting my head round the fact that this is a new start to my career and a very exciting one."
While John no longer sees the \'Emmerdale\' characters on screen, he meets up with a number of his former co-stars, and is constantly reminded about Ashley\'s dementia storyline on a daily basis by fans.
Speaking on \'Lorraine\', he added: "I say I\'ve stopped watching the show, but still see old friends.
"Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn\'t stop me in the street and say, \'Thank you so much for telling my story,\' and then they tell me theirs.
"It\'s the biggest health concern we have, the story itself had extraordinary relevance."
