Emmerdale Bear Wolf's whereabouts finally revealed as heartbreaking fate confirmed

Emmerdale star Joshua Richards has teased more about Bear Wolf's devastating fate, following the character's sudden departure from the village back in July. Next week, Emmerdale will air a special episode focusing on Bear, where viewers will finally learn where he has been for the last few months. Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) was convinced his dad had left for Ireland after they had a huge argument, but viewers were given a glimpse into his harsh reality when he was revealed to be living in his car.

On Friday (November 7), Paddy and Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) realised Bear hasn't been staying in Ireland as they once thought. The upcoming special will finally uncover the truth behind Bear's disappearance, shining a light on a heartbreaking yet all-too-familiar situation faced by many in the older generation. The episode delves deeper into Bear's life since leaving the village, documenting his struggle through tough times and his rapid descent into a situation that soon spirals beyond his control.

Richards admitted he initially found Bear's upcoming modern slavery storyline "disconcerting and frightening," unsure what personal experience he could draw on. However, he acknowledged that Bear's vulnerability made the plot powerful and meaningful.

He told Express Online: "I found it a bit disconcerting and frightening. What experience do I have to bring to the table, which is nothing. It was a bit discombobulating at first because Bear has been experiencing this kind of depression and confusion.

"So maybe it's a great thing to find him so vulnerable that he's being exploited. As an actor, it's lovely. I rubbed my hands together, then pulled my sleeves up to get stuck in."

To ensure the storyline was portrayed accurately, the soap worked closely with The Salvation Army, and Richards also drew inspiration from a man who had been exploited in real life.

He continued: "It's something that you can slip into and if you're manipulated in a certain way, and being a certain age, where maybe you do think you're useless and redundant, if somebody convinces you that you're not and you are worth something, then you can be manipulated into a situation where you didn't envisage seeing yourself in in the first place. It's quite fascinating how these things do actually happen."

The soap star revealed that when bosses told him he would be off-screen for several months, they instructed him not to cut his hair or shave his beard. "I became a raggedy old man," Richards joked.

Facing his toughest journey jet, viewers will be reintroduced to Bear when he is at rock bottom, looking "filthy and very scraggly," before gradually regaining his former self.

The actor described the filming process as "complicated" due to the non-linear way the story was shot, with each day focusing on a different stage of Bear's journey.

"It has been a very complicated way of portraying various stages in Bear's journey and very confusing for all of us because each day I'm in a different time zone and a different part of the story. It's been quite exciting and quite weird," he explained.

In addition to his own research and collaborating with the Salvation Army, Richards also drew on insights from a play he performed in 2007.

The play was John Godber and Jane Thornton's Sold. In the production, Richards portrayed a journalist who tries to help a woman after she is sold to people traffickers.

"It's not a new subject for me. It's something I've been aware of for many years and even before I did that play. It is quite frightening because as we speak, about 400 million people are in modern day slavery which is horrific," he said. "I'm very proud to be a part of what ITV is doing with these wonderful writers. Hopefully it will prompt action."