Middleton admitted that he misses sharing scenes with Charlotte Bellamy, to whom he was married on-screen for seven years until their recent break-up.
© ITV
© ITV
"I'm a bit dismayed that they've split up Charlotte and I on-screen, but you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and that's the nature of soaps," he is quoted by Female First as saying. "In the process of change, you get some great stories."
Laurel had an affair with Marlon last year but ultimately decided to stay with Ashley. However, her relationship with Marlon was reignited when it was discovered Ashley had been abusing elderly father Sandy.
Remarkably, the disgraced vicar's first wife Bernice also left him for a chef who worked in the kitchen at The Woolpack.
Middleton commented jokingly on the situation: "It's a dismaying fact that both of Ashley's wives have done that. I think it says a lot about his cooking.
"He needs to get a bit more adventurous and stop grilling fish fingers - so some French cuisine man!"
