MATTHEW Wolfenden has revealed the strict backstage rule that led him to QUIT Emmerdale after 18 years.
The actor announced he was leaving his role as David Metcalfe in August 2023, with his exit playing out on screen in April last year.
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He had 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.
He spoke to bosses about taking a break but the soap’s strict ‘no panto rule’ meant he had to choose between the two.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online he explained: “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.
“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.”
David left the village after discovering his son Jacob was in a relationship with his ex, Victoria, and couldn’t handle their betrayal.
It means he has the opportunity to return in the future, something he wouldn’t be against.
He said: “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.”
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