Paddy Dingle[1] (also Kirk) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Dominic Brunt.

He has also had several extramarital affairs since arriving, notably with Viv Hope (Deena Payne) and Tess Harris (Nicola Stephenson).

Needing money to stop her family from being evicted, Mandy takes it and marries her cousin, Butch (Paul Loughran), leaving Paddy depressed.

Paddy begins a relationship with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) and deals with her wayward son, Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller).

The problems aren't helped by Carl King (Tom Lister), who informs Paddy that he and Chas had sex.

Marlon invites Paddy to a night out and meets a woman named Tess Harris (Nicola Stephenson).

Paddy's ex-wife Mandy returns to the village with her teenage son Vinny (Bradley Johnson) for Marlon's surprise wedding to Jessie Grant (Sandra Marvin).

He expressed his love and loyalty to working on Emmerdale, but admitted that after 23 years, he still gets nervous and finds certain aspects of the job difficult.

[3] On his character profile on the ITV website, Paddy is described as a "loveable softy" that "rarely has a bad word to say about anyone and can usually be relied on".

It notes that due to his clumsiness, he can tend to be "the butt of a joke", but since he has a good sense of humour, he rarely takes offence.

The profile states that although Paddy makes mistakes, naming hitting a police officer and being suspended from practicing veterinary as examples, he "always works hard at correcting" what he has done wrong.

Paddy is billed as a "Loveable, trust-worthy, middle-class" character, and it states he enjoys playing Xbox and dancing to ABBA, and that he dislikes seafood, horses and Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick).

[5] Scenes aired weeks later confirmed that the baby has bilateral renal agenesis, a condition where kidneys fail to develop in a foetus.

Speaking about his character's response to the diagnosis, Brunt explains that Paddy initially wants to stop the suffering immediately, and suggests an abortion to Chas.

He stated that he is "over the moon" to be involved due to it being an "interesting" and "utterly fascinating" topic, but noted that he was thankful that he was not going through it in real life.

[6] Months later, the two characters were allotted a standalone episode where they "say a heartbreaking farewell to their newborn daughter", whom they named Grace.

The episode explores Grace's potential future with "flashforward fantasy scenes" showing her at certain ages, acted out through Chas and Paddy's imaginations.

He added that he did not know if Chas and Paddy would stay together, and that both of them are "set to struggle in their own ways for a while" due to the emotional impact of their loss.

It is discovered by Paddy's father Bear, who reveals to Chas' mother Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter) that they are having a boy.

[11] When Paddy takes Marlon to the hospital, he accidentally leaves Eve in the backseat, unattended and with the car door open.

Although Eve is found safe, social services get involved and Chas begins to "thinks of Paddy" differently, especially since they lost Grace.

However, when he overhears Chas telling Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) that they should "spend some time together somewhere like a pub or a hotel", he is "utterly devastated".

He goes on to explain that "the best present" Paddy feels he can give to Chas after "two really bad years for them", referring to the loss of Grace and their relationship problems, is a wedding.

[20] In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Brunt revealed that he often receives "sex letters" from older viewers of the soap.