Matthew Wolfenden hasn’t seen any of the ‘Emmerdale’ grooming storyline – because he can’t bear to watch himself back on TV.
The 39-year-old actor’s alter-ego David Metcalfe recently discovered his girlfriend Maya Stepney (Louisa Clein) has been grooming his son Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) for months, but today (22.05.19) was the first time he had seen any of the plot play out on the small screen.
After being shown a highlights reel of the hard-hitting storyline during an appearance on ‘Lorraine’, he said: "That’s the first time I’ve seen any of that, I can’t watch myself. It looked quite good.
"I can’t do it, honestly. I enjoy doing what I do, and I’ve had a lot of lovely feedback from all the stuff that we’ve done, and that’s enough for me.
"But yeah, I can’t watch myself."
Maya was arrested on the second episode of last night’s (21.05.19) ‘Emmerdale’ double bill, much to Jacob’s devastation, and Matthew admits he isn’t sure whether David and Jacob’s relationship will mend.
He said: "I don’t know, I honestly don’t. This is part of the problem. These children are groomed and they believe that they are in love.
"They are being made to believe that they are in love with this person, and how you turn their mind the opposite way and get them to understand that it is grooming, it is sexual abuse, how are we going to do that?
"So I think it is going to be a long process, and we’re going to show Jacob’s struggle with that and David’s struggle with that.
"David is essentially going to blame himself for letting this woman that he brought into this house do this to his stepson."
Matthew recently heaped praise on Joe-Warren for the way he’s played the grooming storyline.
He said: "I’m very proud of Joe-Warren. It’s incredible that he’s been put up for Best Young Performer at the Soap Awards, which I think he deserves more than anything.
"I’ve been with Joe now since he was 7 years old, when he first auditioned for the show. I’ve seen him grow up into somebody who’s nearly a foot taller than me, which is very annoying!
"He’s just blossomed within this storyline. I know he’s 17 now, but the show has given a child actor such a huge storyline. The way that he’s gone about it – so professional and grown up – is incredible."
Matthew Wolfenden can’t watch himself back on Emmerdale
