Aaron Dingle

Aaron Dingle (also Livesy) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Danny Miller. The character was originally played by Danny Webb and appeared in a recurring capacity. Aaron made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 24 December 2003. When Aaron was reintroduced in 2008, he was promoted to the full-time cast and the decision was made to recast the role. Miller successfully auditioned for the part and later admitted that he would have quit acting if he had not been cast.

Aaron is the son of Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) and Gordon Livesy (Gerard Fletcher/Gary Mavers). His storylines have included being involved with the criminal McFarlane family, making a romantic advance towards his best friend Adam Barton (Adam Thomas) which resulted in attempted suicide, coming to terms with his homosexuality, his relationship with Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock), and dealing with Jackson's suicide. Miller chose to leave the show in November 2011 and he made his final appearance on 5 April 2012. Aaron's exit storyline saw him accused of arson and so he left the village with his new partner Ed Roberts (Lloyd Everitt).

Two years later, Miller reprised the role and Aaron returned on 14 August 2014, as part of a heist storyline involving Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth) and Ross Barton (Michael Parr). The character's most notable storylines since his return have been his affair and subsequent relationship with Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley), his role in Katie Sugden's (Sammy Winward) death, self-harming, revealing that he was sexually abused by his father Gordon when he was a child which made him attempt suicide once more, reuniting with his estranged half-sister Liv Flaherty (Isobel Steele) and becoming her guardian, being sent to prison for grievous bodily harm, and breaking up and reuniting with Robert, playing a part in raising his son, and marrying him. In November 2021, it was announced that Miller would be competing in the ITV series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and that he would be leaving Emmerdale once again and Aaron departed on 6 December 2021. However, the following year, Miller returned to the role of Aaron for a guest stint on 3 October 2022 to celebrate Emmerdale's 50th anniversary with Aaron departing once again on 31 October 2022. Miller made an unannounced return on 9 October 2023, revealed to be his uncles Cain and Caleb Miligan (William Ash)'s hostage at Wylies Farm.

Jake Roche auditioned for the role of Aaron, however, it was actor Danny Webb who was eventually cast. Aaron first appeared in Emmerdale in 2003 as a recurring character. In 2008, Aaron was reintroduced as a full-time cast member and the decision was made to recast the part. Former Grange Hill actor Danny Miller successfully auditioned for the role of Aaron. Miller admitted in an interview with Sue Crawford of The People that he would have quit acting for good if he had not landed the role. On 20 December 2016, Aaron was temporarily played by actor Bryan Parry in a special episode focusing on the viewpoint of dementia patient Ashley Thomas (John Middleton).

Violent, angry and always in trouble, the character quickly established himself as the 'baddest' of bad boys. Describing Aaron, Lucy Pargeter (Chas Dingle) said "Aaron's an absolute pain in the arse for Chas. Danny Miller, who plays him, is brilliant. He gives so much and he's only young".

"I'd never thought Aaron could be gay – he's probably the most unlikely person in the village to be gay. I saw it as a challenge and said yes, but I was still quite anxious about it."

A high-profile storyline for the character was when he began to question his sexual orientation. As the storyline progressed, Aaron was seen struggling to come to terms with his sexuality, before admitting the truth to his friend and guardian Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). Miller admits that he was apprehensive when the Emmerdale writers approached him and told him they were making Aaron gay. Miller said "Being a straight actor and having to kiss another lad, I'm not going to lie, I was a bit worried about it, because it's a great test of your acting skills."

Miller's co-star, Dominic Brunt has praised the storyline and told Media and Entertainment website, Digital Spy, that "It's done more realistically than I've seen in a soap." He went on to describe Aaron as being a homophobic homosexual, who does not like what he is. Miller has stated that he is enjoying the challenge presented by the storyline saying "It's definitely been a big challenge – I feel a big responsibility to get this right and portray it in a way that makes it real, because there are so many lads who are going through what Aaron is going through". Miller's co-star James Sutton, who previously played a gay character in Hollyoaks, has said that Miller did not need any advice for the role and said, "We've chatted but I've given him no advice – he's a great actor, he doesn't need me to give him any pointers".