storyline to leave the show on, I really couldn't." Middleton continued to mention how he has thought about leaving every year as well as recalling the meeting he had with Oates prior to choosing to leave: "She basically pitched the idea to me. She asked me, 'Are you happy to do this story? You probably want to think about it. I said immediately 'No I don't need time, I recognise this for what it is.'" Oates spoke of Middleton's exit, "I think this is going to be a really challenging story for us to tell. John and I have been talking about it for many, many months. We have heaped more agony on Ashley, but it's because John is an awesome actor and will do the storyline amazing justice." On 14 March 2017, it was confirmed that Middleton had recently filmed Ashley's departure scenes. Reception A writer from Holy Soap named Ashley's most memorable moment as being the "dramatic race to the airport" to prevent Laurel from leaving. In August 2017, Middleton was longlisted for Best Actor and Best Exit at the Inside Soap Awards, while he and Bellamy were longlisted for Best Partnership and the episode from Ashley's viewpoint was longlisted for Best Show-Stopper. While the episode from Ashley's viewpoint did not make its shortlist, Middleton's other nominations did. On 6 November 2017, Middleton won the "Best Exit" accolade. References External links Character profile at itv.com Character profile at What's on TV Character profile at stv.tv Character profile at Holy Soap Emmerdale characters Fictional priests and priestesses Television characters introduced in 1996 Fictional characters with dementia Fictional domestic abusers Male characters in television Fictional characters with epilepsy and seizures