Emmerdale’s Matthew Wolfenden and Charley Webb still ‘finding way’ with co-parenting

Matthew Wolfenden has opened up about his split with ex-wife Charley Webb.

The former Emmerdale star, 44, appeared on Monday’s Loose Women, where he was reunited with co-star Roxy Shahidi, who plays Leyla Harding. The duo were discussing their new podcast, Celebrity Side Hustles, where chat got onto how Matthew is coping with co-parenting after his split from wife Charley, 36, who played Debbie Dingle on Emmerdale.

Matthew and Charley announced back in November that they had split after five years of marriage. Charley wrote at the time on Instagram: “It is with love and respect that Matthew and I have decided to separate. We remain friends and our priority is the love for our children. For their sake we would appreciate privacy at this time. C x.” Matthew shared the same message on his Instagram story signing off with “M”. They share three children together – Buster, 14, Bowie, eight, and Ace, four.

Loose Women host, Charlene White, asked Matthew about the “lots of change” in his life on Monday after leaving Emmerdale after 17 years and splitting with Charley both last year. Talking about co-parenting, Matthew admitted: “I think we’re still finding our way, the good thing is me and Charley we’re still best mates. That’s fantastic. It’s all quite new to us still at the moment but we’re still finding our feet, finding a way to do it and do it well. I think we are.”

The former couple first met on the set of the ITV soap and began dating back in 2013 before tying the knot in 2018. In November, Charley and Matthew, who share three small children, announced they had mutually gone their separate ways but hoped to ‘remain friends’.

Matthew has since moved on with new girlfriend and Elf co-star Heather Scott-Martin. This prompted the soap star to sensationally reveal that his ex-wife had been the one to initiate their divorce in a fiery post earlier this year. It comes after the actor came under fire for being spotted with Heather amid his separation.

Addressing the string of speculation surrounding his marriage, the soap star wrote on his Instagram page at the time: “Just to set the record straight once and for all… and hopefully this will be the end of it, and the end of me getting horrible messages on socials, and people saying nasty stuff to me in the street.

“1: It was NOT my decision to end my marriage. 2: I met Heather (who I was pictured with in London) way after my marriage ended.” Matthew then added: “Hope this clears stuff up for all the trolls out there.” He added: “Oh, and… 3: (and most importantly) Charley and I are still good friends. Our kids are our life and always will be.”