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Paddy Dingle (also Kirk) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Dominic Brunt. He has been married five times: to Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) in 1999 and 2024, to Emily Kirk (Kate McGregor) in 2002, to Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) in 2012 and to Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) in 2020. He has also had several extramarital affairs since arriving, notably with Viv Hope (Deena Payne) and Tess Harris (Nicola Stephenson). His other storylines in the series have included discovering his biological father and dealing with the loss of his child.
Paddy begins a relationship with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) and deals with her wayward son, Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller). The problems aren't helped by Carl King (Tom Lister), who informs Paddy that he and Chas had sex. Paddy initially refuses to believe it, but realises it is true and evicts Chas. He allows Aaron to stay, and the two grow closer and Paddy acts as a father to Aaron. Paddy realises that Aaron is gay, but unable to accept his own sexuality, Aaron viciously beats him. He is immediately remorseful, and the two have a long talk where he admits that he is gay. When Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) returns to the village, she and Marlon reignite their relationship, but Rhona falls in love with Paddy. She later learns she is pregnant with Marlon's baby, but regardless, Paddy and Rhona begin a relationship and later get married. Their marriage is tested after Rhona becomes addicted to painkillers. Marlon invites Paddy to a night out and meets a woman named Tess Harris (Nicola Stephenson). They have sex in her car. Tess turns out to be the married teaching assistant of Leo Goskirk, Rhona's son. They break it off, but resume things after a short while. Rhona suggests to Paddy that they adopt a child and Paddy eventually agrees. Amongst others, Aaron and Tess are asked to be references for the social worker. After Tess gives her reference, she texts Paddy but Rhona finds the phone and asks why he has a second phone, Paddy says that it's Aaron's and consequently tells him about the affair. Reeling, Aaron tells the social worker that Paddy and Rhona are having marital issues. They later decide to end their marriage.
Paddy and Chas rekindle their relationship, and Chas learns that she is pregnant. They are excited to have a baby, but they discover that their child has bilateral renal agenesis and will not survive long after birth. Despite this, they agree to continue with the pregnancy. They make plans to marry, but Chas tells Paddy that she doesn't want to marry him just yet. Chas goes into labour, and gives birth to their daughter Grace who lives an hour. During their time together, Paddy imagines the life he and Chas would have had with their daughter. Chas and Paddy later learn that they are pregnant again. Paddy's ex-wife Mandy returns to the village with her teenage son Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) for Marlon's surprise wedding to Jessie Grant (Sandra Marvin). Chas initially suspects that Paddy is Vinny's father, but Mandy explains that he is not. She gives Chas and Marlon a letter for Paddy originally from his mother to pro wrestler Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards), explaining that Bear is Paddy's biological father. Paddy tries to ignore the revelation, but he eventually meets Bear at a convention in Belfast. Bear later arrives in the village, and Paddy and Chas allow him to stay with them. He and Paddy begin to form a relationship. Chas goes into labour, and the baby is revealed to be a girl, Eve Dingle (Bonnie and Billy Clement). Paddy and Chas marry on Christmas 2020, with Paddy taking Chas's surname.
On his character profile on the ITV website, Paddy is described as a "loveable softy" that "rarely has a bad word to say about anyone and can usually be relied on". It notes that due to his clumsiness, he can tend to be "the butt of a joke", but since he has a good sense of humour, he rarely takes offence. The profile states that although Paddy makes mistakes, naming hitting a police officer and being suspended from practicing veterinary as examples, he "always works hard at correcting" what he has done wrong. Paddy is billed as a "Loveable, trust-worthy, middle-class" character, and it states he enjoys playing Xbox and dancing to ABBA, and that he dislikes seafood, horses and Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick). The profile also notes his strong friendship with Marlon, and reveals that he has a tattoo on his lower back that reads "Marlon Forever", written inside of a heart shape.
Months later, the two characters were allotted a standalone episode where they "say a heartbreaking farewell to their newborn daughter", whom they named Grace. In another interview with This Morning, Brunt praised the writing team for the script. He explained that they had not exploited the topic for drama, but that they approached the episode "really delicately". The episode explores Grace's potential future with "flashforward fantasy scenes" showing her at certain ages, acted out through Chas and Paddy's imaginations. Brunt added: "It's not as depressing as it sounds. It's full of hope." Digital Spy described the episode as "groundbreaking", but Brunt stated that he would not care if the storyline did not win an award. He explained that in his 21 years at Emmerdale, he has never won an award, so it is not important to him. Brunt confirmed that he knew the outcome of the birth, but that he did not know anything past this point. He stated that he likes to be surprised each time he receives a script, and that he became excited to film the aftermath of the birth, since it was a surprise to him. He added that he did not know if Chas and Paddy would stay together, and that both of them are "set to struggle in their own ways for a while" due to the emotional impact of their loss. When asked if he would want them to stay together, he opined that the drama of them not living "happily ever after" would be good to watch, but that eventually, he would want them to stay together.
Bear informs Paddy of Chas' "potential unfaithfulness", to which Brunt claims Paddy is "in complete denial". He explained his character's mindset of not believing Bear by stating that Paddy thinks: "No, I'm not going to follow them up there, we're adults and she should never do that". However, when he overhears Chas telling Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) that they should "spend some time together somewhere like a pub or a hotel", he is "utterly devastated". Paddy and Chas then navigate through their problems with a break from each other, but in December 2020, Paddy makes the last-minute decision to surprise Chas with a wedding on Christmas Day. Brunt suggests that Paddy has "bitten off more than he can chew", leading him to ask for help from the villagers. He opined that the wedding episode is "very sweet and romantic", but admitted that his character is "an idiot", and that "he's not really thought it through". Asked why his character would plan a last-minute Christmas wedding, Brunt joked that Paddy is "insane". He goes on to explain that "the best present" Paddy feels he can give to Chas after "two really bad years for them", referring to the loss of Grace and their relationship problems, is a wedding. He stated: "He just loves her and wants to give her the best present he possibly can after the worst time they've both been through." Brunt also expressed his excitement at being "at the centre" of the festive episodes, since it is a big deal to him. He billed it "an iconic episode" which he felt lucky to be part of.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Brunt revealed that he often receives "sex letters" from older viewers of the soap. He accredited this due to Paddy being "very safe and kind", leading people to "project their sexual fantasies on to him". He commented: "I'd get sex letters from 60-year-olds, saying, 'I've had rumblings I've not had for 30 years' and telling me what they want to do to me. It's hilarious."
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