Emmerdale’s Dominic Brunt compares his character Paddy to ‘Alan Titchmarsh’ (Image: ITV)
favourite Dominic Brunt has compared his character Paddy Kirk to national treasure “Alan Titchmarsh”.
The beloved village vet first joined the soap back in 1997 and quickly won over the nation with his kind heart and cheeky personality.
But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for Paddy, who has suffered his fair share of heartache over the years. The TV favourite hasn’t always been lucky in love, clocking in two failed marriages to Mandy Dingle (played by Lisa Riley) and Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter).
Yet earlier this year, he reconnected with the bubbly beautician and finally said ‘I Do’ to his sweetheart for the second time.
Now, his character appears to be doing better than ever as the dynamic duo attended the Inside Soap Awards 2024 together last week.
Elderly fans would often send him “fruity letters” (Image: ITV)
In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the 54-year-old actor opened up about his fiercely loyal fanbase over the course of his 27 years on the Yorkshire-based soap.
He told us: “We used to get a lot letters and I used to get really fruity letters from octogenarians, and I think it’s because I’m that safe character.
“Paddy’s a bit like Alan Titchmarsh, you know, he’s a professional of a certain age. He’s a safe and reliable person for people to turn to.”
But away from the cameras, the actor also moonlights as a film director specialising in horror. The star has released four horror films over the past ten years through his production company Mitchell Brunt Films which he established with his wife Joanne in 2011.
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And it appears as though his talents could see him working behind the cameras on the ITV soap after Lisa shared her plans for her 30th anniversary episode next year.
She gushed: “I would love for my anniversary episode for Dom to write it, direct it and make the village spooky. You know the tap in the backwashing station in the salon? I want it to spray and then a face to come out.”
Dom chuckled before he added: “I’d like to do a zombie version of it, a late night one-off special for Halloween.” Fans will have to stay tuned to see what madness will unfold in the village this Halloween.
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