Emmerdale is set to welcome Heartstopper star Bradley Riches, who is joining the ITV soap as a new regular cast member.
Bradley, who is best known for playing James McEwan on the uplifting coming-of-age Netflix drama, will make his debut in the eponymous village in May, having already commenced filming.
Emmerdale is currently keeping tight-lipped on details surrounding Bradley’s character, but fans can expect more information to come to light in the coming weeks.
On joining the long-running serial drama, Celebrity Big Brother star Bradley said: ”I’m beyond excited to be joining Emmerdale! It’s a real bucket list moment for me, especially since it was my grandad’s favourite soap, I just know he’d be over the moon.
‘Everyone has been so lovely and welcoming, and the village is even more amazing in real life. I absolutely love my character (though I can’t spill too much just yet!), and I’m just so grateful for this opportunity.
‘I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s in store…’
Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw added: ‘We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Bradley to the Emmerdale family.
‘Bradley brings a wealth of talent and his warmth, wit and charisma makes him perfect for this new Emmerdale role.
‘We have some wonderful stories for him to play and we can’t wait for the audience to see Bradley bring his new character bursting into life on screen.’
Consider us very intrigued.
Bradley rose to fame after landing the role of James in global phenomenon Heartstopper.
After a brief appearance in the first series, the part was expanded significantly in the second, with James becoming a fan-favourite with show audiences.
Bradley told Metro at the time that it was ‘really exciting’ to be part of the Heartstopper universe.
‘James in the comics is only in one scene, so it’s nice to expand the character… but whenever I have a character, I always like to bring part of myself to it, as well as escaping my own self.
‘I like to find similarities between the character and myself, and that’s what made James.’
In addition to Heartstopper, 23-year-old Bradley is also known for taking part in Celebrity Big Brother’s grand return to TV last year, competing alongside Coronation Street’s Colson Smith, Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin and TV personality David Potts.
He finished in sixth place after a shock eviction which took viewers by surprise.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 or stream from 7am on ITVX.
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