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Paddy Kirk will seek help away from the village in Emmerdale during an upcoming episode.
Viewers of the ITV soap have followed Paddy's story as he continued to struggle with the breakdown of his marriage, constant reminders of Chas' infidelity and their shared grief over the death of their daughter Grace, which has all taken a toll on Paddy's mental health.
Feeling alone and struggling to find his place in people's lives, Paddy considered taking his own life, where the audience saw the true extent of his deep depression.
READ MORE: Emmerdale fans floored by Paddy Kirk star’s real age as he celebrates birthday
Best friend Marlon Dingle discovered that Paddy had attempted to commit suicide, with Marlon subsequently setting up a Man's Club at the Woolpack Pub to help Paddy and other characters in the village to open up and talk.
However, an upcoming episode will see Paddy continue his slow steps to recovery as he continues to struggle with his mental health – including making the decision to seek help away from the village.
The vet is grateful for the support of his Man Club friends, his family and the wider village who have rallied around to help him, but he has has felt constrained about opening up and taking about his problems with his immediate friends.
Paddy instead makes the decision to join a men's help group away from the village during an episode due to air on Thursday May 11, 2023 – with the soap using a real life Andy's Man Club meeting space for the scenes.
Soap producers have worked with Samaritans and Andy Man's Club on the storyline, with Producer Laura Shaw saying: "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.
"Our research showed that in addition to these things, many people find it easier to talk to strangers about their problems and so we wanted to show Paddy doing just that – opening up in a different environment and talking to strangers."
Laura continued: "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."
The scenes were filmed at Bradford City Football Club ground where regular Andy's Man Club meetings are held, with Nell Wain from Andy's Man Club saying he was delighted to have Emmerdale film at their location.
"When Laura Shaw first asked me about doing this episode I jumped at the opportunity to let men see a bit of how Andys ManClub runs and this will hopefully help us challenge the stigmas around men talking," said Nell.
He added: "A huge Thank you to Emmerdale for their support in highlighting the struggles men go through but that, through talking, we all have hope of brighter days ahead."
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year.
You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at [email protected], or visitsamaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
Andys Man Club has over 100 peer to peer talking groups and on online platform for may man over 18 to reach out and talk confidentially and without judgement.
All Andys Man Club groups are free to attend with no registration or referral needed. You don’t even have to talk!
For more information or to find out where all our groups are please email: [email protected] or checkout their website
Andys Man Club can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, You Tube and TikTok @andysmanclubuk
READ MORE:
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- Emmerdale
- ITV
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