Emmerdale has confirmed that fan favourite David Metcalfe, who made a shock exit from the village last year, will not be returning.
David, played by Matthew Wolfenden, 43, has been a regular character on the Yorkshire soap for 17-years but exited last year after it was revealed that his stepson was having an affair with his ex-fiancé.
In November, David left the village after catching step-son Jacob Gallagher (Joe Warren Plant) with his former partner Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins)
Having just learned that his father Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, David promised to return.
However in Tuesday’s episode it was confirmed that the character has left the village for good.
![Emmerdale has confirmed that fan favourite David Metcalfe, [played by Matthew Wolfenden] who made a shock exit from the village last year, will not be returning](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/03/10/83185991-13267001-image-m-38_1712136792800.jpg)
The episode saw Jacob, who considers David to be his father, walk into the shop to find his grandfather Eric and mother Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi).
‘Your dad rang,’ Eric began, before Jacob jumped in to say: ‘I know what you’re going to say but you don’t need to look so worried.
‘This is great actually because I can apologise properly. I can make everything better, I can tell him how much I’ve missed him.’
‘He is not coming back,’ Eric snapped back at his grandson. ‘He has decided to stay a lot longer with Priya.’
Jacob asked how long his father plans to stay away, to which Eric replies: ‘Forever.’
Later in the the episode, Jacob is dealt another blow as his mother Leyla admits that she blames him for David’s departure and no longer wanted to see him.
‘I’ll ring dad and ask him to reconsider, I’ll remind him that he promised grandad that he’d be back,’ Jacob told Leyla.
Pointing to a for sale sign outside his father’s home, Leyla replied: ‘Jacob if there was any way that David was going to change his mind, that wouldn’t be there. He’s clearly decided to start a life somewhere where there’s no bad memories.
