Emmerdale has revealed details of Bear Wolf’s upcoming exit from the Dales, in what is the start of a huge new storyline.

Paddy Kirk and wife Mandy Dingle have been worrying about his dad being out of character of late due to his unexplained actions and irresponsible behaviour — including recently leaving granddaughter Eve home alone to find his pill box.

In tonight’s episode, Bear informed Paddy of a trip he was planning to take. He revealed it would see him leave the village for a considerable amount of time, and the information did little to calm Paddy’s concerns.

Bear was in high spirits as he came down for his morning coffee, as noticed by Paddy, who was sat at the kitchen table. Bear explained he’d had a call from an old wrestling mate named Nasher Bates, who’d invited him to go spend some time with him in Ireland.

According to Bear, his friend was lonely following the recent death of his wife and Bear was adamant he would fix the bike Paddy recently gave him in order to visit him for two to three months.

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Paddy was visibly stunned at the length of the upcoming trip, while Bear thought that Paddy and Maddy would be overjoyed to “see the back of him” for a bit after continued tensions.

“Don’t be daft, dad that’s a long time, especially after, you know, things have been a bit difficult,” Paddy told his father.

Bear brushed off Paddy’s concerns and told him to “stop fretting”, before heading off to get started on the bike.

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Later, Paddy found Bear drinking in the Woolpack and presented him with a gift to show his support for the upcoming trip: a guidebook on Ireland.

Bear joked he knew Ireland “like the back of my hand”, but was clearly touched by Paddy’s gesture.

“I know I’ve not been quite myself recently, so maybe this is exactly the tonic I need,” Bear said. “You know what they say a change is as good as a rest. So don’t worry.”

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Bear promised to get good use out of the guidebook and the two seemed settled on the matter of his trip, with a tender moment following between the two.

“I love you dad,” Paddy told Bear, who replied: “I love you son, very much.”

Bear’s trip lays the foundation for a huge upcoming storyline involving the character, as teased by Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw.

“He’s going to go off screen for a little while, he’s going to go missing,” she explained. “And when he comes back, what you’ll see is a very different Bear in a really different situation.

“We’re all going to be watching and going, ‘What the hell has happened here?’ That’s going to be really exciting.”

Will Bear make it to Ireland after all?