Michael Parr, who plays Ross Barton in Emmerdale, has opened up about the injury that left him fearing for his acting career.

Emmerdale enthusiasts are in for a nail-biting ride this week as they witness April Windsor precariously hung over the edge of a multi-storey car park, following her abduction by the merciless boxing promoter Jade.

Stepping into the ring to save her is Ross Barton, portrayed by Michael Parr, who made a dramatic comeback to the Dales recently after six years away, diving right into a gritty storyline involving underground boxing.

The tension soars with the upcoming scenes at the car park, significant as the place where April’s mum Donna—Ross’ former flame—took her life a decade ago.

Aside from the gripping plot, fans were also captivated by Parr’s chiselled form during his on-screen brawls, but it was just two years prior that a debilitating back injury left him bedbound and fearful for his career.

A subsequent scare with suspected Legionnaire’s disease added to his turmoil. Speaking to The Mirror, the 38 year old actor recalls, “If you can’t move you can’t act.”

He expressed his awe at his recovery stating, “To go from that to where I am now seems like a miracle.”

The irony wasn’t lost on him; it was his fitness regime that led to his downfall when he suffered a severe nerve and disc injury at the gym, reports the Mirror.

Detailing the ordeal, he added, “It was terrifying; it was by far the worst pain I’ve felt in my entire life. The injury froze me and I couldn’t move,” and revealed, “I was permanently in bed and bent over. It even impacted my breathing.

“My immediate thought was that I was going to be like that for the rest of my life.” Unable to walk for a week, he added: “The panic really set in that I’d done myself some permanent damage.”

He was still recovering from the injury when he was rushed to hospital with suspected Legionnaires’ disease, while filming alongside Bollywood A-listers for a new movie in India. Found delirious and hallucinating in his hotel room by a colleague, he was rushed straight to hospital.

“I dropped about 20lb in four days and my cheekbones were starting to protrude,” he said. “I’d been in my room hallucinating for four days. I didn’t know what was going on. I was delirious. I’m a massive chess player and I was so out of it I kept thinking I was a chess piece.”

Massively dehydrated, doctors gave him electrolytes that made him sick and put him on a drip.

“Being taken to hospital in a foreign country is always scary, but especially when you can’t communicate with the doctors,” he said. A fitness enthusiast, growing up in St Helens, Merseyside, Michael played football and basketball and began weight training in his teens, after seeing his granddad with a back injury, also becoming hooked on martial arts at drama school.

He said: “Following the injury, I went to see orthopaedic doctors and physios. I went for acupuncture and cupping and I began walking again. I tried absolutely everything. I wanted to get back on my feet as soon as possible.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still get nervous if I feel a little pain in my back, but as I approach 40, I no longer put my body through the punishment that I used to. You only get one body so you’d better look after it.

“I used to train really hard at the gym, but I tailor my work outs now. I’ve quit lifting heavy weights and I now do a lot of yoga and stretching.”

His fitness has been an asset in his current bare-knuckle fighting storyline, which then sees him wrongly accused by Jade of stealing £10k, before being warned his family could be in danger if he can’t find the money. But when April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) is kidnapped, the real drama starts, as he mounts a heroic rescue bid.

Previously winning Best Actor, Best Villain and Sexiest Male, when he was in Emmerdale, he is delighted that his dramatic comeback means he’s right back in the thick of things. Michael, who has also been in The Long Shadow and Douglas is Cancelled, as well as making films in Morocco and India, was in LA when Covid struck and “burnt through cash,”.

“After that there was the writers’ strike. It was bad timing,” he says. Of his Emmerdale comeback, he adds: “I had a play lined up and then Emmerdale called and asked if I was interested. I chatted with them and got excited about the story.”

Emmerdale’s Michael Parr leads a tranquil life away from the on-screen drama, enjoying chess and drawing inspiration for his ‘bad boy’ role from Machiavelli’s “But while his life in Emmerdale is full of drama, his homelife in Yorkshire is very low key. He enjoys playing chess and prepared for his bad boy role by reading 16th century philosopher Machiavelli’s book The Prince, regarded as a manual for showing tyrants how to manipulate and maintain power.”

He reflects on his changing attitudes towards nightlife, saying, “Thankfully, the partying days are over,” and adds with a smile, “When I was in my 20s being in a club made me feel good, now it makes me feel old! ” Previously linked to co-star Isabelle Hodgins, Michael is currently in a long-distance relationship with London-based PR manager Isabelle du Plessis.

He shares, “It’s a long distance relationship at the minute because my girlfriend is in London and I’m in Leeds, but it works for us. It’s nice for me to go there when I’m not filming.”

As for his character Ross, he’s gearing up for more chaos, pondering, “I don’t know if Ross is a good person trying to be bad, or a bad person trying to be good,” and concludes, “Either way, he’s the complete opposite of me – that’s why he’s so much fun to play.”