Emmerdale has shared details for an upcoming episode and revealed that Paddy Kirk will look for help with his depression away from the village.
It’s two months since Paddy thought about taking his own life. Though the vet is recovering, it’s still early days for him. In a special episode viewers will see him take the next step on his journey to feeling better.
At the moment, Paddy’s getting great support from his friends in the village. They have started their own Man Club to share worries. And he’s also got family and the other locals who have all helped him through.
But what’s next for Paddy as he takes the decision to get help away from Emmerdale? Find out below.
Paddy leaves the village in Emmerdale spoilers
Paddy isn’t completely comfortable sharing his thoughts with those who are closest to him. So, in a special episode airing on May 11, viewers will see the depressed dad head to a men’s support meeting away from the village.
The scenes were filmed at Bradford City Football Club. This is a venue used by Andy’s Man Club – a real-life men’s wellbeing group. The group previously helped Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy, and the Emmerdale writers and crew, prepare for this storyline.
![Paddy Kirk [DOMINIC BRUNT] attends a man club away from the village. Not knowing the men and nervous at first, Paddy eventually speaks up and details his woes to an understanding group.](https://cdn.entertainmentdaily.com/2023/04/20145217/Unknown-400x273.jpeg)
Getting help
Fortunately, it’s only a brief departure from the village for the fan fave! The episode is intended to show viewers another way that Paddy can deal with his mental health crisis.
“We’ve already seen Paddy speaking to his GP, being prescribed medication, going for counselling and talking to his friends and family, to help him with his struggling mental health,” explained producer Laura Shaw.
“Our research showed that in addition to these things, many people find it easier to talk to strangers about their problems. So we wanted to show Paddy doing just that – opening up in a different environment and talking to strangers.
“It was vitally important to us that we portrayed these scenes authentically, hence the scenes were shot on location at a real Andy’s Man Club venue and AMC carefully and brilliantly guided us through scripting and filming the scenes so they were as true to life as possible.
“We hope if anyone watching is feeling like Paddy, like they can’t talk to friends or family, they might be encouraged by these scenes to reach out to their own local club for help and support.”
Helping others
Neil Waine from Andy’s Man Club said he was chuffed to have Emmerdale on his home patch.
“When Laura Shaw first asked me about doing this episode I jumped at the opportunity to let men see a bit of how Andy’s Man Club runs,” he said.
“This will hopefully help us challenge the stigmas around men talking. In reality many men take the step to travel out of their area to attend clubs so they can really be themselves and talk freely with strangers. To see Paddy doing this is a real-life snapshot of the thought process for many men.”
Read more: Complete Emmerdale cast list 2023 – meet them all here!
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour episode on Thursdays.
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