Emmerdale’s Matthew Wolfenden has revealed why it was time to leave the show, and the reason being the stern backstage rule being the reason why.

Emmerdale star Matthew Wolfenden has revealed why it was time to finally leave the show after 17 years, and the stern rule backstage being the reason why. Announcing his plans to leave in August, 2023, Matthew accepted the lead role of Buddy in Elf the musical in London’s West End which ran for eight weeks.

Producers of the ITV1 soap told the actor he had to choose between the show and the musical as there was a strict ‘no panto rule’, despite Matthew asking for a short break, wanting to return. Wolfenden told The Sun that this was a major problem for him as the show does not “let people out at Christmas to do panto” as an exception would result in many actors opting for it. The actor said production’s “reasoning is if [they] left one person out, [they]’ve got to open it up to everyone and could lose half [the] cast at Christmas.”

Matthew Wolfenden on the Red Carpet at the National Television Awards, 2020 ( 
Image:
WireImage)

Matthew left his role of 17 years for the eight-week job of Buddy the Elf ( 
ImageConfirming that Elf was not a pantomime, Matthew stated that “it was a big West End musical, over panto season” and the producers were unwilling to budge on the steadfast rule. “If we set a precedence to let you out for three months to do that we’ve got to let other people out too” recalled Matthew, who “absolutely understood”.

Exiting the show officially in April, 2024, the now West End star recalled his contract “coming to an end” and being left with the “big decision” – asking himself: “Do I leave an 18 year job to do an eight week show?”. Upon reflection, Wolfenden called his decision “to leave a well paid job to go and do an eight week run” “a little crazy”.

Matthew’s character David Metcalfe left Emmerdale’s village after uncovering son, Jacob, in a relationship with his ex, Victoria – the overwhelming betrayal being Matthew’s way out. “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.” Additionally, this exit avoided the ‘killing off’ of Matthew’s character, allowing the actor a future opportunity to return to the soap in the future, which is a potential he has left open.

Matthew’s exit from Emmerdale included a heart-breaking storyline where he discovered his son and ex’s affairMatthew received a “lovely email” from “big boss”, John Whiston, which said: “Look, we’re not going to kill you off, [but] that is not me saying you can come back”. Wolfenden labelled this “lucky” and stated that they “obviously 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 the people are fantastic”. Matthew “absolutely adored” the set and his decision to leave had “nothing to do with the fact that I wasn’t enjoying it anymore”. His only reason being that he wished to “spread [his] wings” after 17 years of one show and “do some more musical theatre”.

Matthew had previously been in West End for nearly five years before landing the part of David Metcalfe. He assumed it would be a short role for “three months” and planned to see his parents during the filming, and then head back to London’s theatres. “Three months turned into six months and then 17 years later I was still there!”. The Elf star admitted that musical theatre has been his forever passion and that the want to return has always been in the back of mind – 2023 being the time he finally “bit the bullet”.

Several months after making the decision to leave, a scandal broke out accusing Matthew of cheating on his wife. The couple split up around November 2023, to which Matthew denied the rumours and took to Instagram to state that the affair was a “lie” being told. Shortly after the split with Charlie Webb, the mother of their three children, Matthew posted pics of his new girlfriend – Heather Scott Martin, who is a personal trainer and musical theatre actress which he reportedly met during the production of Elf.