Matty Barton (formerly Hannah Barton) is the youngest child of John Barton and Moira Dingle.
Biography
2009-10: Arrival at the farm
Hannah arrives in the village with her family, who have purchased the Sugden's former farm. She soon gets a crush on Andy Sugden, but he rejects her since she's just a teenager. It is revealed that she is being bullied via text, however she hides this from her family who have failed to realise that she is having trouble settling in, the texts she is receiving are from classmate Kayleigh Gibbs.
In January 2010, Hannah confides in Victoria Sugden, who is aware of the texts as she has been forced into sending some herself. Eventually Hannah confronts Victoria in the Woolpack loos and is hurt when Victoria admits she and Kayleigh have been sending the texts. As result to this Hannah flushes Victoria's head down the toilet. After the fight is broken up Hannah reveals she is being bullied. Months later Hannah forgives Victoria and the two girls become friends again.
In August 2010, Hannah starts a relationship with Isaac Nuttall, a student. Feeling under pressure Hannah sleeps with Isaac, but is mortified to discover their contraception had failed. Because of this and Holly's drug problem they break up.
2011-12: Life on the farm and father's death
In 2011, following the arrival of Alex Moss, who is immediately attracted to Hannah, she sleeps with him but the relationship does not last and Alex deserts Hannah the next day. Alex later turns his attention to Victoria and they start a relationship, much to Hannah's disappointment and jealousy. Victoria becomes suspicious of Alex and Hannah's behaviour and Alex admits that he seduced Hannah and then left her, but Hannah gives Victoria and Alex her blessing for the pair to continue their relationship.
After her father's death in February 2012, Hannah begins to work more on the farm, at the same time slipping behind with her college work. It is later revealed that she failed to turn up to some of her A-level exams. When her sister Holly went to live in London with her friend Roz Fielding, Hannah decided she had had enough of life in Emmerdale and the bad memories there, and goes with Holly to start afresh in London.
2013-2018: Move to London and Manchester
Hannah tells her family she cannot return after Holly's death; she can't cope with attending her sister's funeral, much to Adam's dismay. However, she does send a holly bush in remembrance of her. A few months later, she informs Moira she also can't return for Christmas.
At some point, she chose to live as a man named Matty, always feeling that she was born in the wrong body. She moved to Manchester but continued to tell her mother that 'she' was still living in London, even masquerading as Hannah when Moira went to visit.
2018-: Transition to male and return
In June 2018, Matty returned and snuck into Butlers Farm to retrieve his birth certificate with which he intended to legally change his gender. He was caught by Cain Dingle, who mistook him for an intruder, but when Moira walked in she instantly recognised him as 'Hannah'. Moira reacted badly to Matty's revelation, telling him to leave. Victoria was also shocked to see her friend was now a man, but accepted him immediately. Cain tried to set Moira and Matty up to get them to reconcile but Matty walked in on Moira saying harsh things about him and left. Cain tried to convince him to forgive Moira, but Matty felt unable to and returned to Manchester. A few weeks later Moira visited Matty in hospital. She apologised for her previous behaviour and after they reconciled, Matty moved back to Emmerdale.
Personality
As Hannah, she was always shy and quiet, for a number of reasons. She was bullied, had numerous problems in her family and all the while she felt like something was wrong. She grew up scared, thinking she was gay. After time away from her family, she realised that she was a man trapped in the wrong body and began the process of transitioning from female to male. As Matty, he is more confident in his body and gender identity, although still relatively quiet.
Hobbies and interests
We don't really know much about Matty's hobbies, but we do know that he loves being a big brother to Isaac.
Relationships
Moira Dingle
Matty has always been close to his mother, especially following his father's death. Despite their close relationship, Matty always felt that he was second best to Holly and Adam and had a tendency to keep things to herself. However, the pair became estranged when Matty began transitioning from female to male and, scared about her reaction, Matty refused to stay in contact with Moira until July 2018. After a few chances and a happy reconciliation, Moira and Matty have built back up their happy relationship.
Victoria Sugden
Career
Matty has served in a variety of jobs. Prior to moving back to the village, Matty had mentioned that he had previously worked in a call centre. He worked as a farmhand at Butlers Farm but found himself not cut out for the heavy stuff or the paperwork, and decided to seek elsewhere for work after getting scammed for a bull (which Matty got their money back with the help of Victoria Barton)
Employment history
| Role | Institution | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Customer service | Unknown call centre | Prior to 2018 |
| Farmhand | Butlers Farm | 19th July 2018 to 23rd July 2018 |
| Shop Assistant | David's Shop | 8th August 2018 to present |
| Barman | The Woolpack | 3rd September 2018 to present |
Role in the Community
Matty currently doesn't play a major role in the community as he left for London not long after leaving school. Matty enjoys helping people and will instinctively jump in where he feels he is needed - which earned him a job at David's Shop.
Residences
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Butlers Farm | 17th July 2009 to 20th June 2012 |
| London | 20th June 2012 to c.2016 |
| Manchester | c.2016 to 12th July 2018 |
| Butlers Farm | 13th July 2018 to present |
Background Information
- Grace Cassidy quit the role of Hannah in 2012, deciding to leave to pursue other jobs and advance in her career. Hannah departed with on-screen sister Holly.
- In June 2018, it was revealed that producer Iain MacLeod had recast the role. Actor Ash Palmisciano was initially brought in to assist the team with the storyline on 31st January but they were interested to discover that he is an actor and was impressed by his performance and gave him the role of Matty.
Quotes
"Alcoholic!" - first line as Hannah Barton about Andy Sugden.
"Bye!" - to Adam and Moira when leaving with her sister Holly Barton.
"I can't..." - first line, upon his 2018 return as Matty Barton, to Cain Dingle.
"Hiya mum" - to Moira Barton as Matty Barton when she begins to realise that her daughter is transitioning from female to male.
"You're the best friend I've had in ages. I don't want us to muck that up and we would when you realise that you just wanted some comfort and I'm the rebound guy. You mean too much to me to risk it" - to Victoria Barton.
"But I'm sick of being scared and jealous, when all I want to do is..." - to Victoria Barton before he kisses her for the first time.