Emmerdale star on Chas and Paddy future and new horror film Wolf Manor

However, the actor was able to tease what’s coming up over the next few weeks - and it doesn’t look like a reconciliation is on the cards any time soon. “There’s plenty of bickering and drama and hatred to come,” he laughed.

“But it’s been quite colourful, because you can’t be that negative all the way through, so the scripts that we’ve had at the moment have still been quite good fun to do.

“There have been different paces and different angles. They’ve coloured it in very, very well, to say that it’s a couple falling out badly.”

Asked if he would like to see Chas and Paddy reunite, the actor replied: “Oh, I don’t know! I just don’t know, I mean, in real life, what would you do? It’s an unknown quantity, I just don’t know. Selfishly, I like working with Lucy, I really do.

“But story-wise, morality-wise, there’s got to be a consequence to every action in soap. I think if they do get back together, it’ll be a long road to go down.”

Away from the Dales, Brunt and his wife Joanne Mitchell - who has also starred in Emmerdale as the devious Sandra Flaherty - regularly collaborate on horror film projects, acting as director and producer respectively.

Their latest offering is Wolf Manor, which sees a werewolf terrorise the cast and crew of a British horror movie, killing them off one by one. With performances from The Vicar of Dibley’s James Fleet and Early Doors’ John Henshaw, Wolf Manor features impressive special effects and some well-timed deadpan delivery.

Asked about the mix of satirical humour with horror, Brunt said: “Well, it's not as intelligent as satire. It kind of knows itself, it knows what it is; so we play with the kind of stereotypes of the actors and the directors and the fact that horror films kind of spend time on this backstory.

“So we acknowledge the fact that there is no backstory and the characters are very one-dimensional. So it's a kind of knowing nod to [those] sort of films, really, with love.”

The actor also gave an insight into casting Fleet. “It was funny because when we were trying to cast it, the writer kept saying 'Somebody like James Fleet.’ So we kept thinking about different people and I said, 'We should really ask James Fleet!’

“And he just said that he doesn't normally get to play the lead. He really liked the script, and we said, 'Do you mind the swearing?' Because the swearing is not like vindictive, spiteful swearing, it's quite funny.”

There’s also another Emmerdale connection in the mix, as fellow star Henshaw has appeared in the ITV soap. “Also John Henshaw used to be a Dingle! Years and years ago, before he had a great career going on to do other things, he was a Dingle for a few months: Ezra Dingle [brother of Steve Halliwell’s Zak].

“So I already knew John, and I kept bumping into him over the years, so we grabbed him! We said, 'If we get you a car from your house and do a night's filming and then we'll get you back home,' and he went, 'Yeah go on then, I'll do that!' We were so lucky.”

Read more:

• Emmerdale 2023 preview: 9 spoilers for the year ahead
• Best soap storylines of 2022: From deaths to dramatic returns

Wolf Manor will be available on DVD & Digital Download from 9th January.

Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV and ITV Hub. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our Soaps hub.

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