Emmerdale aired concerning scenes on Thursday, with Paddy Kirk planning to end his life in a heartbreaking new storyline.
Towards the end of the episode, his loved ones learned of his devastating plan and they desperately tried to find him.
Paddy had gone missing recently from the village, leaving his family concerned, but he suddenly returned this week.
While he claimed to his close friends that he was feeling better and just needed to clear his head, he was hiding a heartbreaking secret.
Paddy revealed on Thursday night during a chat to his sleeping daughter Eve that there was a reason for his comeback.
The much-loved character had actually fled the village with a plan to take his own life, but he decided he couldn't go through with it.
Instead, Paddy revealed that he needed to say goodbye to Eve and his loved ones first - but that he also needed to see how they would cope with him being gone.
Sadly, Paddy told himself that his loved ones appeared to do just fine without him while this was not the case.
Believing they stuck together and got through him being gone, Paddy believed it was "for the best" for "everyone" that he wasn't around.
In heartbreaking scenes, with no one to hear him, Paddy confirmed he planned to end his own life before writing a note, and leaving it on his bed.
After saying veiled goodbyes to those in the village, Paddy made his way to the vet surgery before deciding to act on his plan.
It later emerged that the letter he left was a goodbye, and his father Bear found it before alerting the family that Paddy was missing and vulnerable.
As people asked what was wrong, Bear confirmed what Paddy was planning as his friends desperately tried to track him down.
Viewers watching at home were devastated for the character and begged for him to get the help he needed.
One viewer tweeted: "My gosh.... #Emmerdale has got me in tears. Hearing Bear read out Paddy's letter.... gosh."
Another said: "Really good episode that. @dominicbrunt you were brilliant, such a moving performance I’m in tears here."
A third fan added: "Can’t type too many tears," as a fourth said: "This is pretty devastating with Paddy. Not the easiest of watches."
Paddy actor Dominic Brunt recently revealed how the heartbreaking storyline will affect Paddy going forward as he reaches out for help. He told The Mirror: "He's opened the door to it [suicidal thoughts] now he's capable of having those thoughts, he’s capable of attempting to take his own life.
"He’s going to have to watch that now for the rest of his life and thankfully, the story isn't dropped like that, there'll be hints hopefully forever that he's capable of that," he continued.
"But there's also a lot of light as well. I think what Emmerdale do, brilliantly time and time again is, it's not a misery fest.
"It's not this dark storyline that's awful to watch. It's really well coloured in with the pace and even two blocks later, there's little pinches of light - he’s found his humour again but, at the same time, he has to watch himself."
"It normalises the talking so he has a little slump and he turns to someone and says, ‘Are we alright to grab a cup of tea? I just want to talk to you about something just something that's bothering me.'"
*If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
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