Bradley Riches, known from Celebrity Big Brother, has been revealed as the latest addition to the Emmerdale cast, taking on the role of Lewis Barton — the long-lost brother of Ross Barton.
Bradley Riches is Emmerdale’s newest star, with the actor playing Ross Barton’s long-lost brother, Lewis.
The former Celebrity Big Brother star is portraying a character that takes inspiration from his real-life as both he and Lewis are autistic.
In real life, he is also happily engaged to his partner Scott.
Early life
Bradley was born on 11 December 2001, making her 23 years old. He was born in Surrey, England.
The actor was diagnosed as autistic at nine years old and was nonverbal until he was 10.
“When I first joined the group, I didn’t use words as a form of communication so I was just there pushing myself out of my comfort zone and being around people who couldn’t stop singing,” he told the BBC.
He explained that he “found his voice” while playing different characters.
“Watching American TV shows, I was able to impersonate the voice,” Bradley said.
“I had a stammer because I’d never used that muscle before, but I was able to use characters to be like an extension of myself and then this art taught me how to weave that into me, and start speaking as Bradley as well.”
Bradley graduated from Emil Dale Academy with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Musical Theatre, awarded by the University of Bedfordshire.
Career
Bradley has lots of stage experience, with the actor making his debut in 2016 in the musical Disaster! – he played twins Ben and Lisa.
He went on to star in Footloose, Monstersongs, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Kin the Musical and Goodnight Mister Tom.
Bradley also portrays James McEwan in the Netflix hit series Heartstopper.
In March 2024, he joined the cast of Celebrity Big Brother and finished in sixth place.
Since then, he has also appeared in the BBC One comedy horror series Wreck and made his panto debut at the end of 2024 in The Further Adventures of Peter Pan: The Return of Captain Hook.
Earlier this year, it was announced that he would be playing Lewis Barton, the long-lost brother of Ross Barton, in Emmerdale.
Outside of acting, Bradley has also written a book called “A” Different Kind Of Superpower. It is a semi-autobiographical children’s book, where the main character named Bradley is autistic and it’s seen as his superpower.
Bradley announced his engagement to theatre director Scott Johnston in April 2024.
He shared a video of the proposal and wrote: “POV. When people tell you ‘You’re too young’ but you know he’s the one. He’s endgame…”
Scott popped the big question while the couple were on holidays together in Sorrento, Italy.