Matthew Wolfenden (born 5 May 1980) is an English actor best known for his role as

David Metcalfe David Metcalfe is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Matthew Wolfenden. Storylines Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) had never divorced from his first wife, Eileen (Arbel Jones), and went on to have an ...

in the British soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

''.

Early life

Wolfenden was born in

Norwood Green, West Yorkshire Norwood Green is a small village situated between Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the metropolitan borough of Calderdale. The village falls within the Calderdale ward of Hipperholme and Lightcliffe. It o ...

. He was educated at Brighouse High School. Wolfenden was a member of the British

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

squad until, aged 16, he fell whilst practising on the rings and broke his back. This prevented him from continuing gymnastics and he turned to acting.

Acting career

Before becoming part of the ''

'' cast, Wolfenden was a cast member in the musical ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

''.

''Emmerdale''

Wolfenden plays

, son of

Eric Pollard Eric Pollard (also Pollock) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Chris Chittell. He made his first appearance in the soap on 30 September 1986. Having appeared continuously since, he is currently the lo ...

, in

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's ''

''. His first acting job was as an extra on the programme, later he originally auditioned for the role of

Eli Dingle Eli Dingle is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, ''Emmerdale'', played by Joe Gilgun. He first appeared on screen in the episode which aired on 13 July 2006 and made his last appearance on 30 April 2010. He is the younger ...

, but lost out to

Joseph Gilgun Joseph William Gilgun (born 9 March 1984) is an English actor known for several roles, including that of Vinnie O'Neill in the Sky One series '' Brassic'', Marcus in Hollyoaks, Eli Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Jamie Armstrong i ...

; then he was called back for the role of

''Hollyoaks: Let Loose''

Wolfenden has also appeared in '' Hollyoaks: Let Loose'', a spin-off of ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

''.

''Soapstar Superstar''

In early 2007, Wolfenden finished ninth on the second series of ''

Soapstar Superstar ''Soapstar Superstar'' is a British talent show that aired on ITV from 6 January 2006 to 13 January 2007. The show's format works in a similar format to that of '' Pop Idol'' and ''The X Factor'', in that the competition features a group of ...

''. He performed the songs " Bad Day" (

Daniel Powter Daniel Richard Powter (; born February 25, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his self-penned hit song " Bad Day" (2005), which was top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for five weeks. Biography Early life Powter grew up in Verno ...

) and "

Don't Stop Me Now "Don't Stop Me Now" is a song by the British rock band Queen featured on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' that was released as a single in 1979. Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it was recorded in August 1978 at Super Bear Studios in Berre-le ...

" (

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

''Dancing on Ice''

Wolfenden was partnered with Russian

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

Nina Ulanova Nina Ulanova (russian: Нина Уланова; occasionally romanised French-style as Oulanova; born 31 May 1978) is a Russian ice dancer. With former partner Michail Stifunin, she is the 1997 World Junior champion and 1998 Nebelhorn Trophy c ...

for the seventh series of ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series presented by Phillip Schofield alongside Holly Willoughby from 2006 to 2011, who then returned in 2018, and Christine Bleakley from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their profe ...

''. His gymnastic and dance background proved to be an advantage and he ended up in the final, against ''Hollyoaks'' actress

Jorgie Porter Jorgina Porter (born 25 December 1987) is an English actress and model. She is known for portraying the role of Theresa McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2008 until 2016 and again from 2020. Early life Porter was born in Tr ...

and ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' contestant

Chico Slimani Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a British singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show ''The X Factor''. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British c ...

. Wolfenden continued his role in ''Emmerdale'' while training for ''Dancing on Ice''. Matthew became the "King of the Ice" after beating Porter.

Other work

Wolfenden has appeared on several chat shows with various co-stars including

Natalie Anderson Natalie Jane Anderson (born on 24 October 1981) is an English actress, singer and television presenter. She is known for her roles as Stella Davenport in the medical drama ''The Royal'' from 2005 to 2008 and Alicia Metcalfe in the ITV soap op ...

and

Fiona Wade Fiona Sarah Wade (born 20 March 1979) is an English actress, known for playing Priya Sharma in ''Emmerdale'' from 2011 to 2023. Career In 2008, Wade played Mamta in a play called ''Alaska'' by DC Moore at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstai ...

. On 7 January 2014, Wolfenden provided the soap news on ITV's '' This Morning'', a topic usually covered by journalist and writer

Sharon Marshall Sharon Jean Marshall (born 21 September 1971) is a British entertainment journalist and screenwriter best known for being the resident "Soap Expert" from 2003 to 2022 on ITV's '' This Morning''. Television career In 2006, Marshall appeared as ...

. On 12 April 2015, Wolfenden appeared on a celebrity special of the game show '' The Chase''. He advanced to the final of game with fellow contestant

Lesley Joseph Lesley Diana Joseph (born 14 October 1945) is an English actress and broadcaster, best known for playing Dorien Green in the television sitcom '' Birds of a Feather'' from 1989 to 1998 and again from 2014 to 2020. Other television credits incl ...

and they won the show, taking home £5500 each for their respective charities of choice, Wolfenden's being Speak Up, a charity for adults' with learning disabilities. On 11 September 2016, Wolfenden, alongside ''

'' co-star

Eden Taylor-Draper Eden Taylor-Draper (born 28 October 1997) is an English actress. She portrays Belle Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', a role she took over from Emily Mather in 2005. Career In 2005, at the age of eight, Taylor-Draper was cast in the ...

, took part in the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Sou ...

to raise funds for Bloodwise.

Personal life

Wolfenden is married to his ''Emmerdale'' co-star

Charley Webb Charlotte Anne Webb (born 26 February 1988), commonly known as Charley Webb, is an English actress. From 2002 to 2021, she portrayed the role of Debbie Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. In 2014, she was nominated for Best Female Dra ...

and the couple have three sons. Wolfenden proposed to Webb on Christmas Day in 2009. They married in February 2018, and have three sons together; their third son was born on 26 July 2019.''OK! Magazine''
/ref>

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfenden, Matthew 1980 births Living people English male soap opera actors People from Halifax, West Yorkshire Reality show winners People educated at Brighouse High School