Emmerdale favourite Paddy (Dominic Brunt) will travel outside the village for a Man Club meeting next month as he continues to work through his mental health issues.
In emotional scenes earlier this year, a desperate Paddy was on the verge of taking his own life but was talked down by his best friend Marlon (Mark Charnock).
Since then the men of the village have formed their own 'Man Club', where they have been opening up about their own individual issues, as a show of support for their friend.
The Man Club was inspired by the real-life organisation Andy's Man Club, a support network for males struggling with personal issues, who meet both face-to-face and anonymously online.
For Paddy's storyline, the soap filmed scenes at Bradford City football club in the exact room used regularly for real Andy's Man Club meetings.
"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," said producer Laura Shaw.
"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.
"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 episode will air on ITV1 on Thursday, May 11 at 7.30pm.
Neil Wilkes
Follow us on X/Twitter and like us on Facebook for the latest entertainment news alerts.
Media Mole Black Friday Offer: Get Sky Entertainment, Sky Stream & Netflix for just £19 a month + £0 upfront fee for 24 months!
Prices may change during this period. Ends December 3, 2024
