Emmerdale's Matthew Wolfenden in rare insight into romance after marriage split
HE’S been off our television screens for just over a year after spending 18 years in ITV soap Emmerdale as loveable ladies man David Metcalfe. But now, as actor Matthew Wolfenden, 44, returns to ou…
HE’S been off our television screens for just over a year after spending 18 years in ITV soap Emmerdale as loveable ladies man David Metcalfe.
But now, as actor Matthew Wolfenden, 44, returns to our living rooms as a scheming gay conman in Channel 5 smash hit drama The Good Ship Murder, he admits he was a little nervous ahead of filming.
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Matthew Wolfenden has given a rare insight into his new relationship as well as his career after leaving EmmerdaleCredit: Getty7
Matthew split from wife Charley Webb in 2023 after five years of marriageCredit: Rex Features7
Matthew played David Metcalfe on the ITV soap for 18 yearsCredit: RexAnd although he knew the part would be perfect, because it was so different to his much-loved soap character, it also felt weird playing someone else.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun Online, dad-of-three Matthew, who happily co-parents his three sons with ex-wife Charley Webb, 36, said: “A lot of my friends love the show so when I got a call saying they wanted me for the role of a gay conman, I thought perfect! I still had to do a little self-tape.
"I’d played David for 18 years so to then play a different character, it did feel a little bit weird. It was so far from the character of David in Emmerdale, obviously he was this cheeky chappy, the lovable shopkeeper and then all of a sudden I’m playing this duplicitous conman, it was great but very nerve-racking.”
During his time at Emmerdale, Matthew’s hunky character made his way through pretty much most of the women in village.
Read More on EmmerdaleSo when he discovered that his character Nathan would be sharing a passionate kiss with the ship’s entertainment director Colin Smallwood, played by fellow soap star Ross Adams, 40, he realised it would be his first ever gay smooch.
Speaking about filming the kissing scene he said: “I think we were both a bit nervous for this big scene. Not only did it end with the kiss but it was a really long scene.
"We were filming in Malta in a restaurant that was mocked up to look like we were on the ship and it was opening to the public, so time was of an essence. It was good fun but also incredibly nerve-racking.
“It was my first gay kiss ever! I’d never had a gay kiss on stage when I was doing theatre before joining Emmerdale. And obviously during my 18 years on Emmerdale David worked his way through kissing most of the girls in the village.
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"It was interesting and exciting. I’d heard an interview with James Sutton, who has played John-Paul McQueen in Hollyoaks for years, and he was asked ’as a straight man, what’s it like playing a gay character all these years and kissing all this men? He said, well it’s just like kissing a woman but hairier! I was like, yes, there we go, that’s a really good explanation.”
Matthew decided to leave Emmerdale in the summer of 2023 after being offered the starring role of Buddy in an eight-week run of Elf the musical in London’s West End.
Emmerdale confirms David Metcalfe has quit the village permanentlyHe spoke to bosses about taking a break but the soap’s strict ‘no panto rule’ meant he had to choose between the two.
He explains: “The problem is they don’t let people out at Christmas to do panto, because their reasoning is if we left one person out, we’ve got to open it up to everyone and we could lose half our cast at Christmas.
"Not that Elf was a pantomime, it was a big West End musical, but it was over panto season and they said if we set a precedence to let you out for three months to do that we've got to let other people out too. And I absolutely understood that.
"My contract was coming to an end and I had this big decision to make, do I leave an 18 year job to do an eight week show? When you look back, in hindsight, to leave a well paid job to go and do an eight week run is a little crazy.
EMMERDALE NEWS
"I’m 44 now, I was 43 at the time and I thought if I don’t do it now then I’ll never do it. And luckily, John Whiston, the big boss at Emmerdale, wrote me a lovely email saying ‘Look, we’re not going to kill you off that is not me saying you can come back’ obviously they can’t say that, but the door will be left open for the character of David, which was very nice.
"It does give you that option, you never know, I might go knocking on the door and say ‘Can I come back please’ it’s such a great place to work. It’s on my doorstep and it’s a great place to work and the people are fantastic. I absolutely adored it and it had nothing to do with the fact that I wasn't enjoying it anymore, it was just that I wanted to go out and spread my wings and do some more musical theatre.
"When I got the part of David, I’d been in the West End for four, nearly five years, doing musical theatre and I loved it. Then the part of David in Emmerdale came up for three months and I thought great I’ll go see my mum and dad for a bit and then head back down to London to do more musical theatre.
"Three months turned into six months and then 18 years later I was still there! It was always a thing for me that I wanted to go back to musical theatre, or do some plays. So I bit the bullet.”
Matthew met his ex-wife Charley, who played Debbie Dingle, on the set of Emmerdale. They have three sons Buster, 14, Bowie, nine and five-year-old Ace, five.
The couple split towards the end of his time on the soap, which the former couple were navigating in private before announcing their break-up some months later.
His decision to bite the bullet and leave Emmerdale also led to him finding love with new girlfriend Heather Scott-Martin, which he believes was meant to be.
Matthew said: “I met Heather doing Elf. Me and Charley had been separated for a few months and then Heather was the dance captain on Elf, she’s a choreographer and a dancer.
We’d be the last ones in the pub still chatting, it was almost like it was meant to be, that we found each other.”
Matthew Wolfenden"She’d also recently separated from her long-term parter roughly the same time me and Charley had separated so we kind of had this common bond.
"All the cast used to go out for drinks and stuff and we’d end up sitting together and chatting about relationships and things that had happened, and that’s how we started chatting. We’d be the last ones in the pub still chatting, it was almost like it was meant to be, that we found each other.”
Matthew and Charley spend one week on and one week off co-parenting their three children. And although Heather spends a lot of time in London for work, the boys adore her.
Matthew said: “What we do, we split the week. I’ll have the kids for a week and then Charley will have them for a week, and it works really well.
"Obviously it’s a week on and week off basis, we’re still really good friends and the kids are dead happy. It’s working that way, rather than one parent having the kids for the majority of time and the other parent seeing them at the weekend, that’s not what we wanted to do.
"We wanted to try and keep it that we have them for a full week and it’s nice for the kids as well, they get a full week with each parent. It’s working really well.
“Heather sees the boys and she’s great with them. Charley is really happy about it and they love Heather. She’s a dancer and is always mucking about with them, getting on the trampoline.
"I barely see her when we’re around the kids because she’s always out doing something with them.
"Me and Heather have only been together for the past year or so and it’s still very early days. We get on really well, she’s up and down to London, she’s choreographing a lot down there, I went to see her this weekend, she’s back next week.
I’ve had a few conversations about some good more TV stuff but we will have to wait and see.”
Matthew Wolfenden"It’s going really well and we’re very happy. It was like we were meant to find each other because we were both going through a bit of a rough time after separating from long term partners it was meant to be.”
Matthew will be watching his television comeback tomorrow night and he can’t wait for viewers to see him playing a villain.
He said: “I hope everyone thinks it’s a good episode. It was so good to film and there's a big twist at the end. It’s such a brilliant show and doesn’t take itself too seriously which is great.
"It’s like Midsomer Murders on a cruise ship! It was so good having a cameo role, I did think if only I’d got a main part, I could have gone a cruise ship, got the kids on there.”
So what’s next for Matthew? He said: “I really really want to do a play. I’ve done lots of musical theatre when I was in my 20s, and obviously I did Elf last year, but I’ve never done a straight play. It’s something I really want to do. We will see.
"There’s lots of brilliant stuff going on in Leeds, at the Playhouse, a lot of big northern theatres, Manchester Exchange and Bolton Octagon, all these big northern theatres that are putting on some absolute brilliant stuff.
READ MORE SUN STORIES"That would be a dream, stay up north and do a play. I’ve had a few conversations about some good more TV stuff but we will have to wait and see.”
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The former couple have three children together and split their parenting responsibilities equallyCredit: Rex7
The exes have managed to remain friendsCredit: Getty7
The door has been left open for Matthew to return to Emmerdale in the futureCredit: ITV7
Matthew will guest start in an episode of The Good Ship MurderCredit: Channel 5Matthew will guest star in this week's episode of The Good Ship Murder on Friday night on Channel 5 at 7pm.
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