Emmerdale icon Paddy Dingle will return to the village next month after going missing.
Emmerdale viewers and characters have been concerned about his wellbeing after he went missing last week. As fans know, since Paddy discovered wife Chas had an affair with Al Chapman we’ve seen him struggle with his mental health.
It looks like we won’t see Paddy, played by Dominic Brunt, on our screens for the next few weeks as it has been confirmed the character will return to Emmerdale next month. As Inside Soap reports, Paddy will be briefly back in the show to say some veiled goodbyes before disappearing again.
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As we’ve previously reported, viewers will see Paddy struggle with suicidal thoughts. Dominic has praised charitable organisations Andy’s Man Club and The Samaritans for their help with the storyline.
He said: "It’s a huge honour and a great responsibility to be portraying this storyline. It’s an inherent problem in today’s society that most men don’t talk enough about their problems.
"We bottle them up, we don’t want to bother anyone, we become embarrassed, we feel we should be strong and not show weakness. If this story can shine a light on the issue or make even a small change to someone’s outlook or viewpoint, then it will have been worth it."
Emmerdale producer Lisa Shaw has been full of praise for Dominic Brunt and the way he’s handled such a delicate storyline. She said: “As soon as we started discussing this story we knew that it was vital for us to get it right and that we needed to open up the conversation about male depression and suicide.
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“Paddy is usually very happy-go-lucky in life, always joking and having a laugh, but what we see is that recent events have really taken their toll. Despite him being popular and having lots of friends and family around him, Paddy starts to feel increasingly lonely, isolated and overwhelmed by his feelings and this leads to him having some very dark thoughts.
“We've worked really closely with Samaritans and Andy's Man Club every step of the way through this story and their incredible support and insight has helped us to shape Paddy's journey into a true reflection of what thousands of men sadly go through every year.”
As ever, we'll continue to bring you the big Emmerdale news about what is happening in the village and away from it. You can visit our Emmerdale homepage to find the latest gossip about the soap and its stars.
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