Actor Lewis Cope became the early hero of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing series when he was brought in to replace Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn, after he was forced to withdraw from the competition on medical grounds.
The 30-year-old Emmerdale star, who plays Nicky Milligan, said he was walking down Oxford Street on his way to meet a friend when he received the phone call saying he’d be part of the show.
Asked how it felt to be joining the series late, Cope said: “I think, if anything, it’s probably helped me because I haven’t really had time to think about it or anything so now the excitement has kind of just taken over. I think it’s probably better for me.”
Cope added that he’s particularly looking to impress judge Shirley Ballas out of the show’s panel.
The actor made his stage debut at just 11 years old, playing Michael in the West End hit Billy Elliot: The Musical. He later told Tresa magazine his experience in the show changed his life.
“If I hadn’t have done that show when I was 11, I wouldn’t be an actor now,” he said. “It opened my eyes.”
Cope, who was raised in Hartlepool, County Durham, alongside 13 siblings added: “My grandad was a miner so the story is very close to home.”
As well as his West End training, Cope has previous dance experience from his time in the hip-hop troupe Ruff Diamond as a teenager.
The group finished as runners-up on the Sky One dance competition Got to Dance in 2013 and were told by judge Kimberly Wyatt that their initial audition was the best of the series.
The actor went on to appear in the short films A Six and Two Threes and Waterbabies, before landing minor roles in the 2019 TV adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson’s novel Hetty Feather, the BBC medical drama Doctors and the long-running ITV crime drama Vera.
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He said of the experience: “Vera is my nana’s favourite show, so this was so special because of her. I learned a lot filming Vera, Brenda Blethyn and Kenny Doughty really looked after me. We filmed around Covid time and they are such lovely people.”
Cope joined the Emmerdale cast as Nicky Milligan in 2022. “I feel extremely lucky to be doing what I’m doing,” the actor told Luxe magazine at the time. “I’m just an ordinary lad from a huge family in Hartlepool… It’s very surreal.”
His character was initially introduced as a nanny who interviews to look after Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) and Dawn Fletcher’s (Olivia Bromley) children at Home Farm.
It was later revealed Nicky is the son of Caleb Miligan (William Ash) and the grandson of Frank Tate (Norman Bowler).
In 2023, Cope was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2023 National Television awards and starred as Lenny Lowe in the mystery series Miss Sidhu Investigates alongside comedian Meera Syal.
Cope left Emmerdale in July last year, with his character moving away from the Yorkshire Dales alongside his partner Suni Sharma (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana) following an altercation with his mother Ruby Milligan, played by Beth Cordingly.
Of his forthcoming Strictly appearance, Cope said: “I’m so excited to be swapping the Dales for the dance floor… I’ve always been a fan of the show and cannot wait to get started!”
