Emmerdale's Paddy Kirk star addresses future on ITV soap after tragic storyline
Paddy Kirk's mental health hits rock bottom in an upcoming episode of Emmerdale after struggling to come to terms with the breakdown of his marriage.
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Emmerdale legend Paddy Kirk (played by Dominic Brunt) is seriously struggling with his mental health on the ITV soap. In upcoming scenes, the village vet even wants to take his own life following months of sufferingin silence. Ahead of the heartbreaking episode airing, Dominic opened up to Express.co.uk and other publications about his character's future on the serial drama in the wake of such a tragic storyline.
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Dominic explained to Express.co.uk he was approached by producers last August about his character's mental health deteriorating in the wake of Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) cheating on him with Al Chapman (Michael Wildman).
"To get the scripts in advance was really healthy, I think," Dominic explained. "It helped me to start colouring in and start drip-feeding the beginnings of the story."
He said he hopes Paddy's harrowing storyline might make a difference and "normalise talking" among people who have suicidal thoughts.
"No matter what you are going through, whether it’s a mental bump or a terrible lifestyle choice, the one thing which will help you, whether it ends with medication or not, is talking," he stressed.
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In upcoming scenes, Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) goes looking for Paddy with Chas, fearing the worst.
They find him away from the village sitting on a fallen tree in a field with a gun in his hand.
Marlon tries his best to convince Paddy to put the weapon down and head back home as he wants to save his best friend.
After a heartbreaking conversation, Marlon persuades Paddy to return to Emmerdale village with him and wants to support him through this dark time.
Dominic addressed what the future holds for Paddy after the loveable character almost kills himself.
The 52-year-old actor explained: "He’s opened the door to [suicide] now, he’s capable of having those thoughts of attempting to take his own life and he’s going to have to watch that for the rest of his life.
"Thankfully the story isn’t dropped like that and there will be hints, hopefully forever, that he’s capable of that."
"But there is also a lot of light as well," the actor added. "It’s not a misery fest, it’s not this dark story which is awful to watch, it’s really well coloured in with the pace."
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Dominic assured fans of the ITV soap his character finds his sense of humour once again.
He also learns to talk about what is bothering him to his loved ones later down the line.
"I hope as many people watch this episode as possible," Dominic shared.
"I think we have the perfect medium to give this subject matter a platform and tell it in a way where people will turn up the next day at work and say, ‘Did you see Emmerdale last night?’
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"I think you can’t squander that opportunity and hopefully, if it makes a difference for one person, amazing. That’s as much as we could help for really."
Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw gushed over Dominic's performance, adding: "He’s gone out of his way to research this and talk to as many people as he can.
"He’s trusted us implicitly with the script and he’s just put everything into making Paddy’s story as authentic as he can."
If you have been impacted by the storyline, visit Samartians.org or call 116 123.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV and ITVX.
