'Emmerdale's Matthew Wolfenden has to shave his head, his eyebrows and eyelashes for a shocking cancer storyline.
Matthew Wolfenden
The 35-year-old actor - who portrays shop owner David Metcalfe in the soap - has agreed to lose his facial hair in order to shoot scenes for the forthcoming heartbreaking plot.
He explained: "I'm about to shave my head and lose my eyebrows, eyelashes - everything. I've always had facial hair so it will be a first for me. But as soon as I heard about the storyline I said I would just throw myself into it in every way to do it justice for the lads that have been through it."
But, although the star had no problem taking a razor to his hair, he has admitted his five-year-old son Buster, whom he has with his partner Charley Webb, burst into tears when he first told him he'd have no eyebrows or eyelashes for a while.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, he explained: "One of the things has been explaining what will happen to Buster. I wanted to explain to him that I would be losing my hair and that daddy was going to look different for a while.
"When I first told him, he cried... But we've talked about it a lot now so he understands it's for my job and why."
Meanwhile, the gripping storyline will kick off in tonight's show (11.04.16) when Matthew's alter-ego David learns he's battling with an aggressive form of testicular cancer and will need to undergo chemotherapy as the disease has spread.
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