'Emmerdale' Matthew Wolfenden: 'David has a mini-meltdown'

Emmerdale star Matthew Wolfenden has teased his character David Metcalfe's forthcoming bout of erratic behaviour, admitting that the shopkeeper suffers a "breakdown" in the coming days.

David was left heartbroken last Friday when his fiancée Leyla Harding decided to leave the village, and things soon got worse when he realised that she had lumbered him with a mountain of debt.

Next week's episodes see David's behaviour take a turn for the worse when Leyla's wedding dress arrives, prompting him to put on the gown before heading to The Woolpack dressed as a bride.

Wolfenden told Inside Soap: "David has a bit of a mini-meltdown. He's drinking a lot and not opening the shop, so Hannah is having to run it for him. He's really not coping with things very well."

Discussing David's wedding gown stunt, the actor continued: "The dress is a slap in the face for David. It costs about £1,500 - another load of money he hasn't got and is going to have to find. He's already wallowing in self-pity, but I still don't have a clue what prompts him to actually put on the dress and parade around!

"He's run out of beer at home, so he thinks he's behaving quite normally by going to the pub to get some more. When he's questioned on why he's wearing the dress, he says, 'I've paid for it, so I'll wear it if I want!' It's the start of his little breakdown, I suppose. He asks Pearl to marry him, and just doesn't care what he's doing."

Leyla's departure came after actress Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi decided not to renew her contract following three years at Emmerdale.

> Emmerdale Matthew Wolfenden: 'David wants to move on with Alicia'
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Re-live David causing chaos at the shop earlier this week: