After making his Coronation Street debut back in 2020, soap star Jude Riordan has captured the hearts of the nation in his iconic role as Nick Tilsley’s long-lost son Sam Blakeman.
During his three years on the show so far, his character has lost his mother in a tragic case of mistaken identity, secretly exchanged letters with her killer in prison and now in coming weeks is set to embark on a childhood romance with Corrie’s pint-sized bad girl, Hope Stape.
Yet while Jude’s time away from our screens may be far less dramatic than his on-screen persona, the 11 year old youngster’s life is far from dull.
So who exactly is Jude and where might viewers have seen him before?
Born in Merseyside back in 2011, Jude comes from a very glitzy family and is the son of TV director Paul Riordan – who has recently been at the helm of several episodes of Coronation Street since September 2021.
With showbiz evidently in his blood, Jude’s dad has also worked on a number of shows during his career including Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and Casualty
The pair are evidently close andJude publicly wished his doting dad a happy birthday back in April last year with a sweet Twitter post that was accompanied by a wholesome father-and-son snap.
Captioning the picture, which was taken in a pub setting, Jude wrote: “Happy Birthday to the best – My Dad @paul_rio” with celebrating emojis.
What’s more, the duo previously worked on the short film Something Missing together and took to Twitter to reveal that it was their first joint project.
Sharing a snap alongside his dad and his co-stars, Jude wrote: “And that's a wrap on my first short film Something Missing.
“I can't wait to see this finished film! Four long days to get it all in. Had the best time with the best team!
“First project with my Dad @paulrio27 and first project with @michaeltstevenson. Would I do another yes.”
And while he may only be 11 years old, Jude has racked up a series of on-screen credits away from the popular ITV soap, including with soap acting heavyweight Michelle Keegan.
The soap star made his first TV appearance in 2017, at the tender age of 6, when he appeared on the Channel 4 documentary series The Secret Life of 4, 5 & 6-Year-Olds.
As cameras followed him during his early years at school, the youngster was identified as being confident in front of the cameras and was later introduced to a talent agent called Paul Byram.
Shortly after, the actor appeared as Little Phil in CBBC show Katy before voicing the Haribo TV adverts.
In 2018, the talented youngster was given yet another big break, when Jude joined Sky One’s Brassic alongside Michelle Keegan, with the star even continuing the role after five seasons.
Taking to Instagram to share a snap from the set back in January, the smiling star posed alongside Michelle and another young star, Oliver Jones, as they celebrated the end of filming the latest instalment of the sky comedy series, which is due to air later this year.
By far, Jude's most iconic role is on the Coronation Street cobbles however, with the young actor even scooping the Best Newcomer prize at the National Television Awards in 2021, a win that would see him make soap history, as the youngest ever NTA winner.
Before giving his acceptance speech, hostJoel Dommett lifted the youngster up so that he could reach the microphone in a viral moment that warmed the hearts of fans all over the country.
During an interview onThis Morning shortly after, comedian Joel joked that he’d do the same thing if Ant and Dec won an award, with Jude taking to Twitter to joke that he was the presenting duo’s “3rd wheel”.
He wrote: “Knew I could be the 3rd wheel in @antanddec being the same height and all that they can't be at the NTAs to collect their award (course they'll win) BUT I CAN. .”
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