And it all came to a head on Monday night's episode of Emmerdale, as it was announced that the vicar - played by John Middleton - only has days left to live.
Fans were besides themselves and left in tears by the emotional scenes, which saw his wife Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) choose to take him home to die so he could be comfortable in his surroundings.
Viewers were inconsolable after the scenes were aired, tweeting: 'This weeks gonna be a tear jerker!! Poor Laurel & Ashley #Emmerdale.'
'Gonna have to buy in 10 boxes of tissues for when Ashley dies :( #emmerdale,' 'So this week is clearly going to be a tear-fest #Emmerdale'.
Whilst some viewers remarked the scenes were 'hard to watch', many praised the ITV soap for their handling of the storyline.
'#emmerdale well done it's exactly how my mother passed away in this feb.heartbreaking to watch this but well done to cast & crew.thank you', tweeted one viewer.
John Middleton will leave Emmerdale this week after playing vicar Ashley Thomas for two decades.
His exit storyline has been an emotional one, with the actor revealing that people have been stopping him in the street to say thank you for his moving portrayal of dementia on the ITV soap.
The 63-year-old said he was 'immensely proud' of the response that he has received for the heartbreaking scenes.
He told The Mirror: 'People are stopping me in the streets saying thank you for doing this, and that is in many ways the best award.
'Particularly when you are talking to people who have got direct contact with this disease, who have lost loved ones to it, or who are caring for people with it, or people who have the disease.
'They say thank you for portraying it so accurately, so that makes me immensely proud.'
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