Celebrity Big Brother star Bradley Riches has joined Emmerdale in a ‘beyond exciting’ soap shake-up – and he is just weeks away from hitting our screens.

The 23-year-old, who appeared on the ITV show last year, has already started filming his new role on the show. 

Fans will be excited to know that Bradley, who played James McEwan in Heartstopper, will make his first appearance in the village in May. 

Not much is known about his new character as of yet, but ITV have said that it was be ‘revealed in the coming weeks’. 

Bradley has said of his new role: ‘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. 

Celebrity Big Brother star Bradley Riches has joined Emmerdale in a ‘beyond exciting’ soap shake-up – and he is just weeks away from hitting our screens 

The 23-year-old appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2024 

‘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 producer, 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.’

 Bradley has been in the spot light since 2016, starring on stage and in TV shows. 

 In 2019, he played a solider in 1917 and then last year played Freddie in Wreck.

Not much is known about his new character as of yet, but ITV have said that it was be ‘revealed in the coming weeks’ 

Bradley has played James McEwan in Heartstopper since 2022

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He’s also appeared in various theatre shows over the past nine years. 

Some include Goodnight Mister Tom, Footloose, A Christmas Story: The Musical and The Further Adventures of Peter Pan: The Return of Captain Hook.  

However, he’s best known for his role of James in Netflix’s Heartstopper. 

The drama hit the streaming service in 2022 and has had three seasons.

And fans are desperate to know if it will ever return at some point. 

In a chat with The Sun in December, Bradley said: ‘There’s nothing in the pipeline yet, like nothing’s been confirmed nor denied.

‘So we’re we’re all praying. 

‘We’re hoping that there’ll be another season, but obviously Alice needs to write another book – to make more content for the series, so only time will tell, we don’t know anything.

‘So I think everyone would love to like just just to finish the whole show off because I think the best thing about Heartstopper is that it’s got such a big fan base, and everyone feels so seen watching it.’

Emmerdale airs weekday nights at 7:30pm on ITV and STV with episodes available for streaming on ITVX and STVPlayer.