Emmerdale star undergoes major surgery after quitting soap | Soaps

The David Metcalfe actor, 43, took to Instagram to post about being in hospital and shared that he was awaiting surgery on one of his knees.

Alongside a photo that showed him lying in a hospital bed, Matthew wrote: ‘Ready to go down for surgery on my knee.’

The actor quit Emmerdale after 18 years playing David and was preparing for his next project.

He portrayed Buddy the Elf in the newest revival of the musical, based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell.

Talking about how hard it’s been to say goodbye, Matthew began: ‘It was, it was only two weeks ago.

‘It was so emotional to say goodbye, particularly to Joe-Warren [Plant] who plays Jacob, he’s grown up with me.’

Talking about why he chose to quit, Matthew added that an ‘amazing role’ came up, saying: ‘This opportunity came up and it was kind of now or never.

‘I always wanted to go back to the West End,’ he continued, saying he can’t wait to get his jazz hands ‘back out’.

Mathhew and former Emmerdale star Charley Webb (Debbie Dingle) recently announced that their marriage had come to an end in a statement, which was posted to her social media accounts last November.

‘It is with love and respect that Matthew and I have decided to separate,’ it read ‘We remain friends and our priority is the love for our children. For their sake, we would appreciate privacy at this time.

Matthew, who played David  on the ITV soap for 17 years, posted an almost identical message on his own socials, swapping out his own name for Charley’s.

Reports in the media later claimed that Matthew was seeing a personal trainer named Heather, which prompted some ‘nasty’ messages, according to the soap star.

In a bid to ‘set the record straight’, he took to social media last week, writing: ‘Hopefully this will be the end of it, and the end of me getting horrible messages on socials, and people saying nasty stuff to me in the street.

‘1: It was NOT my decision to end my marriage.

‘2: I met Heather (who I was pictured with in London) way after my marriage ended.’

He added: ‘Hope this clears stuff up for all the trolls out there. Oh, and… 3: (and most importantly) Charley and I are still good friends. Our kids are our life and always will be’.

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