The following article does contain spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that airs this evening. You can watch it right now on ITVX.
Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) makes a decision about his life in Emmerdale during tonight’s episode, and it will change everything for him.
In recent weeks, the character’s behaviour has changed which has caused huge concern for son Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). He has attempted to talk to his father about it, but Bear has either shut the conversation down, or told Paddy that nothing is wrong.
It’s a fight with his son in this evening’s episode that prompts Bear to get in his hire car and drive away from the village.
But will we ever see him again?
Here’s everything you need to know about the departure scenes, and what’s ahead.
Is Bear leaving Emmerdale for good?
Despite the fact it looks as though Bear will permanently leave the village, he will return – but not for a little while.
His new storyline was confirmed by producer Laura Shaw a few months ago.
She said: ‘He’s going to go off screen for a little while and go missing, and when he comes back, what you’ll see is a very different Bear in a really different situation and we’re all going to be watching saying “what the hell has happened here?”’.
What happens in Emmerdale tonight?
Following his dog attack, Paddy heads back to the location in an attempt to shoot the stray animal. When he gets there, Paddy is confronted by Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths), who claims she already took action with the dog.
As a result of Celia getting the upper hand in this conversation, Paddy heads back home with his confidence at a low. He then takes his anger out on his father, saying it would be better for everyone if he no longer lived with them.
A heartbroken Bear decides to pack up his things and prepares to leave to see his friend in Ireland. However, when Bear learns that plans with his pal have fallen through, he exits anyway, feeling unwanted by his family.
What has Joshua Richards said about the storyline?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Joshua hasn’t revealed a great deal about what’s ahead for Bear, but he has spoken about how it feels to be trusted with one of this year’s biggest storylines for the soap.
‘I never saw sort of a more stripped-back Bear. I don’t mean nakedness, I mean emotionally through the ringer. So I think there’s something big coming up for him, which I’m really looking forward to. For anybody who is lucky enough to work on this wonderful thing, when you’re given a nice, juicy storyline, it’s helpful’, he said.
‘You feel safe as well, because you’re surrounded by very sympathetic and well-versed and expert writers and story editors, and also you’re in the hands of great directors and great colleagues to work with. I can’t wait.
‘Paddy will feel guilty, because this is his father’s experience in this and it’s right next to him, and he can’t see it’, he added.
‘He can’t put his finger on it even though he’s experienced it himself. That’s one part of the storyline that will be going on is that somewhere down the line, he’ll have to realise that he missed it. That’ll be an important part of Paddy’s storyline as well.’
