Matthew Wolfenden was "absolutely terrified" filming Emmerdale's rope bridge collapse storyline because he is "not great with heights".
Emmerdale's David clings onto the rope bridge
Last night's (18.10.21) dramatic episode saw Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) and Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin) fall from a great height from the suspended rope bridge into the menacing waters below, and Matthew's character David Metcalfe and Isabel Hodgins' alter-ego Victoria Sugden are set to join them tonight (19.10.21) when they, too, fall in.
But Matthew had to rely on Isabel to help him out while filming the stunt as he was so frightened.
He said: "I’m not great with heights. When we had to do the bridge stuff, Isabel was just absolutely amazing.
"We were on wires so there was no way we could fall but when your 60ft above the water and you’re clinging onto a broken bridge, it’s absolutely terrifying."
But when the pair had to shoot their water scenes, their roles reversed.
He added: "I was pretty nervous about the bridge but it all flipped with the water stuff as Izzy wasn’t too confident in the water and I love being in the water.
"It’s funny because our characters were so opposite to us.
"Victoria was supposed to be scared of heights and David is trying to help her but in reality, it was the other way round.
"I was petrified and Izzy took it all in her stride. The bridge was so high though. Even the stunt guys commented on how high it was.
"I was pretending that I was a lot more confident than I was. Hopefully, I passed it off.
"Isabel on the other hand was fine. She was loving it. She was letting go and hanging off the rope she was on. It was pretty nerve-wracking for me."
Isabel admitted Matthew did "really well" considering his fear of heights.
She said: "I’m at ease with heights so I don’t understand how if you know you’re clipped onto a harness you can be scared of falling.
"Matthew on the other hand is not OK with heights, so he did really well considering. Victoria was obviously supposed to be the scared one and David was supposed to be the confident one. That wasn’t the case in real life."
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