Emmerdale star Joshua Richards reveals his weight loss secret and his time filming with Hollywood star on 2004 movie Troy starring Brad Pitt and Rose Byrne
Living under the same roof as his newlywed son and daughter-in-law, Emmerdale fans have watched Bear Wolf spiral into depression.
Last night, (Thursday) viewers saw life get more complicated for Bear, played by Joshua Richards, after he was prescribed sleeping pills and his granddaughter Eve found them.
Feeling like a spare part, since he started living with his son Paddy (Dominic Brunt) and daughter-in-law Mandy ( Lisa Riley) he decides to go away for a while will soon be seen taking himself off.
“He takes himself off. When he returns there will be an interesting change of direction for Bear,” Josh, who has found the storylines quite harrowing, tells The Mirror. “Bear’s getting older, feeling a little bit like a spare part, like ‘what use am I anymore?’ A lot of older people who happen to be living with younger family, or with their offspring, often feel that they shouldn’t be there.
“I think with a grandmother living with you, that’s handy for parents, because you’ve got a live-in babysitter. But I think with a grandfather, it is difficult.”
In recent years, Paddy has also struggled with depression, culminating in him considering suicide.
Josh adds: “There is a parallel between what happened to Paddy and Bear.”
But any differences with his soap family — as seen on screen – are unlikely to rival the one Josh had with Fight Club star Brad Pitt – who he says beat him up.
It was all part of the script, of course – when Brad and Josh starred together in the 2004 movie epic Troy.
Josh, who joined Emmerdale in 2019, recalls the showdown, saying: “I was harassing Brad’s Trojan girlfriend Rose Byrne on a beach in Mexico.
“I got into a fight with him and he branded me on the neck. Off screen Brad was chilled, laidback and charming.”
The fisticuffs between Brad’s character Achilles – who had been sent to fight the Trojans, only to fall in love with one, and Greek soldier Haemon, played by Josh, were certainly more extreme than any of the disagreements Bear has had with his Emmerdale family.
Filming in Mexico, Josh – whose character was sidekick to Succession actor Brian Cox, who played Agamemnon, leader of the Greek army – made a string of pals from Hollywood’s A list.
Hanging out with co-stars Sean Bean, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom, as well as legendary actor and bon viveur Peter O’ Toole, who hosted a party for the actors, ” he reveals. ” Peter held a big bash at his apartment in Mexico and I turned up with Brad, Eric and Orlando. It was great!”
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But many of Josh’s memories are of time spent by the pool.
He laughs: “I ended up being in Mexico for about three months. I was sat by the pool, mostly with Sean and Eric.
“I’d been there for so long that when the director, Wolfgang Petersen, came to the pool one day, he looked over to me and said, ‘Oh, Josh, you’re back!’ I said, ‘I haven’t been anywhere’.
“He thought they’d sent me home, so I was earning money and they’d forgotten I was there!
“I did have a scene left to do, but I could have gone home and come back.
“When I told Wolfgang I hadn’t been anywhere, I remember Eric Bana was laughing so much, he fell off his sunlounger!
“Wolfgang was saying: ‘Josh looks like he has been washed up on the beach!’ My tan had gone chocolate brown. “
For continuity, when Josh filmed his final scene, he had to wear paler make up, as his skin tone had completely changed in the sun.
And he admits that his poolside working day was very easy, compared to his current Emmerdale role.
But the actor, Born in Tenby, South Wales – who is classically trained and whose roles have included playing Richard Burton for 20 years in a one man show that was made into a BAFTA winning film – says working in Yorkshire is as good as being on the beach.
Married to his wife Sarah for more than 30 years, his Emmerdale role – originally meant to be for six months – means he does not have to tour any more, adding: ” I was very happy when they extended my time -from six months to now going on six years. I’ve lived in Yorkshire most of my life, so it’s fantastic to be working here.”
But while Bear is 78, Josh is only 65. He says: “Playing older is fine. When they told me his age, I just played accordingly, although when people see me in the street, they always comment on how young I look—that’s because I am! And I do say to people, yeah, I had Paddy when I was nine.”
Close to the Emmerdale cast, he shares his sadness over losing Steve Halliwell, who played Zak Dingle, and died in 2023.
“He is so dearly missed,” says Josh. “We’d socialise together, have dinner. Sitting with Steve and hearing him talk about his stories and what he’d done in the past, with his acting and his writing, was just lovely – to sit together and break bread and drink wine as friends.”
He also speaks highly of Amy Walsh who, as Tracy, is currently prime suspect in the investigation into the death of Nate Robinson, whose body has been found at the bottom of a lake.
He says: “I know the workload that Amy Walsh has got. Yeah, it’s very demanding, but she’s a very beautiful, competent actress, who does it wonderfully
“I just love to work, but if your storyline is quite heavy, it can be quite taxing. I think the amount of hours you put in can be exhausting.”
Josh is sad that his mum Jean, who was a huge Emmerdale fan, died, aged 80, a year before he joined the soap.
“She absolutely adored Emmerdale,” he says.
The only worry Josh, who is contracted to the soap for another year, has about staying is the lure of double carb meals from the catering unit.
For, in the past two years, he has shed four stone in weight and reversed his Type 2 diabetes – going from 17 and a half stone to 13 and half stone.
Snaffling his favourite chocolates was mainly to blame for his former portly frame, according to Josh, who says: “It has to be Quality Street, because I live in Halifax, where they’re made. My health wasn’t too good. And I was tucking into all the wrong meals from Emmerdale catering like lasagne and chips!”
But with the help of his wife, Josh made positive changes to his diet.
He reveals: “We read a book by Dr Meghan Rossi called Eat More Live Well – and that really helped me lose the weight. I did what it told me – ate more vegetables, more fibre and looked after my gut health. I drank a lot of kefir – a fermented milk drink similar to yogurt. And now I longer need to take tablets for my blood pressure.
“You can take all this weight off without taking weight loss jabs. There’s not enough research on them. I’m living proof you can do it. I don’t exercise, because I have a bad back, so it’s all through diet.
“I remember coming back to Emmerdale because I was off for a bit, and when people haven’t seen you for a while, they really notice. They said, ‘Oh, you’ve lost weight. How did you do that? And I said, ‘Well, I’ve kept away from you. That must help!’”
As Josh continues shunning the lasagne in favour of “massive plates of salad” he has only positive things to say about working on Emmerdale.
“I can actually get in the car and drive from work to be home with Sarah for my tea,” he says. “That’s even better than spending all day lying by the pool with Hollywood stars.”
