Emmerdale’s Dominic Burnt has opened up about his “difficult” Paddy Dingle storyline as he admitted it is a “huge responsibility.”
As soap fans know Paddy has been battling with his mental health following the breakdown of his marriage, when he discovered his wife Chas had been cheating with Al Chapman.
In an upcoming episode viewers will see the true extent of Paddy’s deep depression as he considers taking his own life.
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To bring this story to the screen, Emmerdale programme researchers and writers have taken advice and worked closely with both Samaritans and Andy’s Man Club in order to tell Paddy’s story as authentically as possible.
Speaking about his initial reaction when he was asked to do the storyline, Dominic said: “It was August and I was approached. The fact that I was being brought in so early was very unusual.
“I quite like getting the scripts every two weeks being a fan of the show I kind of read through and think ‘oo they are doing that’ so to know what the story was months in advance was really healthy and I think that it helped me to start colouring in and start drip feeding the beginning of the story.”
Speaking about how powerful the storyline is he continued: “The only time I have had anything like this is when Danny Miller came out, his Aaron storyline when he came out because it mattered to people.
You can take on our 'Which Emmerdale Dingle character are you?' personality quiz below. You can also access the quiz here
“I was hoping this story might make a difference and normalise talking. No matter what you are going through, the one thing that will save you is talking.”
“I felt a huge sense of responsibility on my shoulders trying to get it right,” Dominic admitted. “So I’ve done my best but I felt very looked after and very involved and it made me trust the whole process.”
He added: “It's been incredible and not only has it been inspirational but it’s made me appreciate what I have. I kind of look after myself, if I’m busy I’ll cut out alcohol and caffeine or walk the dogs and make sure I get plenty of sleep.
"But speaking to people where life has hit them so hard it’s been really shocking and as I said before everyone that has come through the other side of it has said ‘I’m really glad I spoke to someone, talking saved me.’ it’s been incredible really.”
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