By Joel Leaver
A former Emmerdale cast member has announced that he's undergoing surgery this week, just weeks after it was confirmed that his character won't returning to the show.
Matthew Wolfenden, 43, is best known for having played David Metcalfe on the ITV soap opera from 2006 until his departure last year. The character last made an appearance back in November but an update on him with given recently.
The actor, who went on to star in the stage musical Elf following his departure from Emmerdale, has kept fans updated on his life and career through Instagram. He took to the platform on Tuesday to post about being in hospital.
He announced to his followers that he was awaiting surgery on one of his knees. Alongside a photo that appeared to show him lying in a hospital bed, Matthew wrote: "Ready to go down for surgery on my knee." He however didn't provide any further details about his health.
The post comes just weeks after his character David was mentioned on Emmerdale following his exit last year. It was announced in September that he had decided to leave the show after more than a decade, with the news following rumours the actor had quit.
During an interview on This Morning at the time, he said: "I am so nervous about leaving, nearly 20 years, almost two decades. It feels like the right time, the door has been left open - they're not killing me off, I've been promised. Who knows, I might be back [in the future]. Yeah, but we will see."
The character was last seen in November. He left the village to visit his ex-partner Priya Sharma (played by Fiona Wade) and their daughter Amba Metcalfe (Ava Jayasinghe). His departure came after he discovered that his son Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) had a relationship with Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins), who had previously dated David.
Earlier this month, David was mentioned on the show when his family received news that he has no plans to return. The scene involved Jacob, his mother Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) and his grandfather Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell).
As previously reported, Jacob heard that David had called Eric and said: "This is great actually because I can apologise properly. I can make everything better." The character further commented: "I can tell him how much I've missed him."
Eric however revealed: "He is not coming back. He has decided to stay a lot longer with Priya." Jacob reportedly wanted to know how long for and was told: "Forever." He then hoped for the opportunity to get David to reconsider.
Leyla, pointing to a for sale sign outside David's home, responded: "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."
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