Emmerdale star pays tribute to co-stars as double exit | UK News

Joshua Richards has spoken candidly about “missing” two of his colleagues following their departure from Emmerdale.

In a latest instalment of the ITV cleaning soap, Joshua’s character, Bear Wolf, fell prey to trendy slavery. After departing his residence, the previous wrestler tragically grew to become ensnared in a sinister operation run by Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) and her son, Ray Walters (Joe Absolom).

On Tuesday (December 30), Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) and April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) devised a scheme to free Bear from the compelled labour scheme at the farm.

Having themselves been victims of Ray and Celia’s drug ring and compelled intercourse work, the children had been decided to guarantee Bear’s secure return to his son, Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), who had been anxious about his father’s location.

April managed to infiltrate the farm and tried to persuade Bear to escape with her while he was mending the chicken coop, but Celia all of a sudden materialised, according to the Daily Star.

As April escaped, Celia caught sight of her in the space while Bear maintained he hadn’t communicated with {the teenager}. In a chilling twist, Celia instructed Ray to kill April and Bear.

Discussing the distressing slavery storyline and Celia and Ray receiving their just deserts after months of cruelty, Joshua revealed he now misses collaborating with his colleagues after delivering such a compelling narrative on-screen.

The actor said, “I think the viewers can’t wait for the feedback I’ve been getting from people in the streets and from family and friends.

“They cannot wait for them to get their comeuppance. And of course, I suppose we, as arbiters of what’s proper and mistaken on TV, ITV can really feel justified in saying, yes, we will end this now, because the viewing public is fed up with these people and the horrible acts they’re committing.

“But unfortunately, in society, you can’t do that, because they’re all pervading and they’re always there, hovering in the darkness.”

Reflecting on his time working alongside the villainous duo’s actors, Joshua remarked: “But I thoroughly enjoyed working with Joe Absolom and with Jaye Griffiths, who are both great actors, and I do miss them now. As they’ve gone. But for the storyline, I think everybody in the village has nothing but benefits from their demise.”

Discussing the importance of Bear Wolf’s trendy slavery storyline, Joshua expressed his satisfaction at highlighting such a distressing issue for audiences.

He said, “I think the job that has been done by the producers, the writers, and the script editors has been outstanding.

“And to convey a story like this to the forefront, which was up for analysis and dialogue, makes great sense to us as a normal public about the sort of issues that are occurring under our noses in plain sight in trendy Britain today.”

He continued: “Modern slavery is alive and nicely, and it is horrifying. I feel it was very courageous for people to convey this subject ahead, and I’m intensely proud of what we, as a crew, have completed.

“It was a huge collaboration, and this is a subject that most of the time is brushed under the carpet. But they brought it to the forefront of our minds.”

Emmerdale followers will need to watch to uncover how Bear Wolf’s trendy slavery storyline wraps up on the ITV programme.

Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX