EXCLUSIVE: ITV Emmerdale star Ash Palmisciano ‘so grateful’ ahead of soap’s first wedding with a trans groom

Soap weddings always pack an emotional punch. But Wednesday night’s Emmerdale episode will be especially poignant for star Ash Palmisciano.

For he is walking down the aisle as the soap’s first transgender groom. And despite the transphobic abuse the actor has suffered while starring on the ITV soap, it is a landmark moment for trailblazer Ash. He is pleased to give hope to teens who grew up like him, wondering if they would ever find love. Ash, who first joined the Dales as Matty Barton six years ago, says: “I am so grateful for the storyline. “To be that person that shows this beautiful love story where one of the characters happens to be trans. It’s just it’s everything I set out to do in this role. I can look back on this job and go, ‘I’m so proud of that’.”

The 35-year-old adds: “A lot of trans people grow up thinking no one is going to love them. We all have insecurities as a teenager, but if you’re trans, these are huge. There was that fear that, ‘is anyone going to get me, is anyone going to understand me?’ When you’re a younger trans person, you think, ‘I’ll never find anyone’.” I understand what Matty’s been through. I’ve lived it. I’ve felt it.”

Thanks to his own experiences, Ash worked with scriptwriters to make the wedding as realistic as possible. He added his own anxiety into the vows for Matty and childhood sweetheart Amy Wyatt, played by Natalie Ann Jamieson. The storyline also tackles transphobia, with Claudette (Flo Wilson) banning the pair from marrying in the church hall. “People don’t want to be shouted at or forced to be educated [but] it’s such a polarising subject,” says Ash, who regularly posts loved-up pictures with his real-life girlfriend Shea. He adds: “It feels realistic. This couple would face struggles like that.”

Ash, from Leamington Spa, Warks, began his transition in his 20s, supported by his parents, Adrian and Michelle, and sister Sophie. He has experienced a lot of transphobia himself, once beaten so badly he “couldn’t stand or see”. But there have been plenty of positive reactions as well. “I’ve had mums or nans of trans kids reach out,” he adds, recalling a letter from one mum and son. “It gave his mum something to reference and helped them.” Ash’s big acting break came after a string of knockbacks. He was about to give up, when he got the Emmerdale part – and 2018 Inside Soap Newcomer of The Year award.

Ash’s mum, Michelle, who died in 2022 aged 60, was especially proud of him. “She was proud that I could transform what had been a real challenge in my life into something that could help so many people,” he says. Hollyoaks was the first soap to have a trans character played by a trans actor after Annie Wallace joined in 2015. Coronation Street ’s Hayley Cropper was played by cisgender actress Julie Hesmondhalgh between 1998 and 2014. Ash says: ”I love Julie. [But] I feel that I can have an insight perhaps a non-trans actor can’t.”

Watch Matty and Amy’s wedding , Emmerdale, ITV1, 7.30pm