MATTY Barton’s prison terror takes a disturbing twist as he opens up to his cellmate about being trans in Emmerdale.
The character – played by Ash Palmisciano – was recently sent to prison until his case is heard for the stabbing of Samson Dingle.
Recent episodes saw Matty struggling in prison, before returning to his cell and realising with horror that hardman Les had been moved in with him.
Taunting alarmed Matty with a series of quick witted and unnerving quips in his cell, Les continued to make the prison novice worry for his safety.
But in upcoming Emmerdale scenes, it’s Les who comes to Matty’s rescue, when menacing Robbo tries to get the lowdown on Matty but doesn’t get much response.
Les stares Robbo down, and gets him to move off, but Matty is left more worried than ever.
Later, Les begins coaching Matty on how to act in prison.
Concerned about how he is perceived, Matty asks Les about the questions he’ll face from other prisoners.
After testing out the advice his cellmate gave him, Matty risks opening up, and nervously tells Les that he’s transgender.
After he questions Matty about it, and his decision to go to a male prison, Les confirms that he’ll mind his own business, but warns that others may not be so kind.
Will prison life get any easier for Matty?
Ash recently spoke about his character’s latest storyline, and how it was important to tackle transphobia in the plot.
He said: “Not everyone is super accepting. It is great Matty’s got that support.
“It’s lovely to tell, we showed the wedding recently, it was an exciting joyous moment. It looked so incredible on screen.
“But sometimes we need to show the flip side of that, how it could go the other way and could be quite cruel for someone like Matty.
“It shows the bigger picture of what it is like to be him. I was really excited, and it’s fantastic we get to mirror that and to tell that story.”
Everything you need to know about Emmerdale
Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.
