The Tears Were All Real

Emmerdales Dominic Brunt and Lucy Pargeter on filming this weeks emotional storyline, where Chas and Paddys baby, Grace, passes away

- Alison Slade

Expect heartwrenching scenes in Monday’s Emmerdale when Chas gives birth to her and Paddy’s daughter, Grace.

Their little girl has bilateral renal agenesis, which means her kidneys haven’t developed. Chas and Paddy have always known that their baby will die soon after birth but decided to continue with the pregnancy.

‘Chas said very early on, “If that child lives for three seconds or half an hour, that’s her life and we owe her that,”’ says Dominic Brunt, 48, who plays Paddy. ‘So this episode is about them giving her love while she’s alive. That’s all they can do.’

Here, Dominic and co-star Lucy Pargeter, 41, who plays Chas, talk about their moving storyline…

How do Chas and Paddy feel when they set eyes on Grace for the first time?

Lucy: There’s that initial rush and the love, but then the clock starts ticking as to how long they’ve got with this beautiful little thing that they’ve created.

Dominic: Paddy melts, because she’s really beautiful. But then things start going wrong. Grace is perfect, and Chas and Paddy want everything to be just right for her, but they’re like, ‘I’ve forgotten this, I’ve forgotten that…Oh no, is she fading, is she in pain?’ Then they go, ‘No, let’s do this for her,’ and the second half of the episode takes a really interesting direction. They turn it into a positive, which is what they always wanted to do.

Paddy imagines a trip away with Grace and Chas. Tell us about it...