As the Pride flags flutter outside the village hall, Emmerdale is ready for Pride thanks to the efforts of Andrea. She excitedly tells Charles she has booked an extra special guest to open the event and he is in awe of her. Later, Ethan makes an eloquent speech that offers a message of acceptance for all on behalf of Emmerdale Pride and the church and he welcomes special guest The Vivienne to the stage. In all her glamour and glory she officially opens Emmerdale’s first Pride…
Ash Palmisciano plays Matty Barton
“Matty heads to Pride with his girlfriend Amy for a day out of fun! Amy really goes for it and completely embraces the pride atmosphere as the supportive girlfriend she is and has the best costume ever. She even gives The Viv a run for her money! Matty and Amy have a great day, maybe too much fun resulting in Amy drinking a bit too much. The whole event inspires Matty to want to do more and help people that might be going through transition like him. Even though Matty’s been extremely welcomed into the village it really felt like a moment of celebration and acceptance in his hometown. “
“The day was so much fun, there was a lot of laughter and silly dancing! The crew made it hilarious by all dressing up and really getting into the spirit of things (you might even catch some of them dancing by the pride stage). Myself and Natalie Jamison who plays Amy got to work with the incredible ‘The Vivienne’, which was a lot of fun! I wasn’t as aware of drag race as Nat was before filming and joked with her that she’d be a proper fan girl on set but I was actually more star struck than she was. I’ll definitely be catching up now. It was a real pleasure meeting her, I kept calling her ‘The Vivienne’, but she told me it’s ok to just call her Viv so I feel like we’re mates now. We were really lucky with the weather up until our scene with The Viv where it snowed one minute and then was sun-shining the next! So we had to hide in a tent for a bit but it certainly didn’t dampen the vibe of the day.”
“It’s so important for events such as Pride to be covered in soaps. Not only does it celebrate difference in a really positive way but it also highlights how important inclusion is for everyone. I loved the different characters we had there, it was a real mix of people showing that pride really is for everyone. It was a real party happy vibe and that’s how difference should be celebrated in 2021.”
“I hope we continue to see more positive inclusion on television. It’s amazing and extremely powerful seeing all walks of life celebrate pride not just the LGBTQ+ characters. Also it’s really exciting that as the world improves after COVID we will be able to film bigger scenes and celebrations with more characters like we did with Pride. It’s a fantastic episode. I can’t wait for our audience to see it.”
These scenes air on ITV from Monday 28 June
