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Will Mellor

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For other people named William Mellor, see William Mellor (disambiguation).

Will Mellor
Mellor in 2012
Born
William Mellor

(1976-04-03) 3 April 1976 (age 48)
Bredbury, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England[1]
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active1990–present
Spouse
Michelle McSween
​
(m. 2007)​
Children2

William Mellor (born 3 April 1976) is an English actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Jambo Bolton in Hollyoaks, Gaz Wilkinson in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Warren Stamp in EastEnders, DC Spike Tanner in No Offence, Steve Connolly in Broadchurch, Georgie in Barking! and Ollie Curry in White Van Man. He appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Harvey Gaskell (2021-2022, 2024). In 2024, he appeared as sub-postmaster Lee Castleton in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, about the British Post Office scandal.

Career

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Mellor first came to the public's attention in 1990, when he played Ben Rowlingson in the children's programme Children's Ward. In 1992 he played Paul Howard in Brookside. In 1995, he joined the cast of the soap opera Hollyoaks and played James "Jambo" Bolton until 1998. He had a cameo as Jambo in a Christmas edition of Hollyoaks. He released a cover of Leo Sayer's "When I Need You", which reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart, as well as a follow-up single called "No Matter What I Do", which reached number 23.[2] He also made an appearance in the music video for Boyzone's Comic Relief single "When the Going Gets Tough".

Shortly after, Mellor appeared as Greg in Is Harry on the Boat?. He played Jack Vincent in Casualty from 2001 to 2003, and starred as Gaz Wilkinson in the comedy Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps from 2001 to 2011.[3] Mellor starred as "Barmpot" in the postal worker drama Sorted, and played DC Jed Griffiths in the second series of Murder Investigation Team.[4] In 2004, Mellor provided the voice for Georgie the dog in the CITV series Barking!. He played Tom in the second series of The Street. Mellor won the first series of the BBC singing contest Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in 2003.[5] He made his EastEnders debut on 20 May 2007 playing womanising salesman Warren Stamp.

Mellor was a guest star in the BBC fantasy drama Merlin, playing the villain Valiant in the series second episode of the same name.[6] In October 2008, he starred in The Prisoner, a documentary about prison life. Mellor portrayed Chris in the British horror thriller film The Reeds.[7][8] Mellor did a brief stint on children's television channel CBeebies, in which he read books for the audience. In 2011, he starred in the BBC Three comedy White Van Man and the BBC One drama Waterloo Road.[9]

From 2011 to 2012, he played Liam Flynn in the BBC One comedy series In with the Flynns,[10] as well as appearing in White Van Man.[11] Mellor had a guest role in the final episode of the BBC Three comedy series Mongrels. In 2013, he played Steve Connolly in the ITV detective drama Broadchurch. In 2014, he appeared on BBC One's Kay Mellor drama series In the Club. In February 2021, it was announced that Mellor would join the cast of Coronation Street as Harvey Gaskell, with his first scenes airing in March.[12][13] From 24 September 2022, Mellor competed in the twentieth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Nancy Xu.[14] The couple made it to the semi-finals, but were eliminated on 12 December 2022, finishing in fifth place.

In 2024, he appeared as sub-postmaster Lee Castleton in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, about the British Post Office scandal. He later criticised the Post Office CEO Paula Vennells for a lack of "humanity" during the scandal.[15]

Personal life

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Mellor met dancer Michelle McSween when they starred together in the stage musical Oh, What a Night in 1999. They married in 2007,[16] and have two children. In 2020, in a podcast with fellow actor and friend Ralf Little, Mellor discussed his struggle with depression after the death of his sister six years before.[1] Mellor's father Bill died in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, two weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. In week 8 of Strictly Come Dancing, on 12 November 2022, Mellor danced a waltz to the song "Three Times a Lady", as a tribute to his father.[17]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1990 Children's Ward Ben Rowlingson 5 episodes
1995–1998, 2004 Hollyoaks James "Jambo" Bolton Series regular, 73 episodes
2000 Fat Friends Gareth 1 Episode
2001–2003 Casualty Jack Vincent Series regular, 72 episodes
2001–2011 Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Gaz Wilkinson Series regular, 79 episodes
2004–2006 Barking! Georgie Voice; 20 episodes
2005 Murder Investigation Team D. C. Jed Griffiths Series 2; 4 episodes
2006 Sorted Barmpot
2007 The Street Tom Episode #2.3
2007 EastEnders Warren Stamp 3 episodes
2008 Merlin Knight Valiant Episode: "Knight Valiant"
2008 The Prisoner Himself
2008 Miss Conception Brian
2009 Agatha Christie's Marple Martin Waddy/Ralph Collins Episode: "Nemesis"
2009 Unforgiven Bradley
2010 The Reeds Chris
2011 Waterloo Road Dan Hargrove Episode: #6.18
2011–2012 White Van Man Ollie Curry
2011–2012 In with the Flynns Liam Flynn
2013 Broadchurch Steve Connolly Main cast member; 7 episodes
2013 Dates David
2014–2016 In the Club Rick Main cast member; 12 episodes
2015 Death in Paradise Karl Slater Episode #4.2
2015–2018 No Offence DC Spike Tanner Main cast member; 19 episodes
2016 Line of Duty PC Rod Kennedy 2 episodes
2018 Viking Destiny Lord Soini
2019 Sanctuary Redpath 8 episodes
2019 MyBad! Davey Dave Television film
2021–2022, 2024 Coronation Street Harvey Gaskell 27 episodes
2022 Strictly Come Dancing Contestant Series 20
2023 Cops Who Kill with Will Mellor Presenter
2024 Mr Bates vs The Post Office Lee Castleton 4 episodes

Guest appearances

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Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2003 9th National Television Awards Most Popular Actor Casualty Nominated [18]
2015 TV Choice Awards Best Actor In the Club Nominated [19]
2021 Inside Soap Awards Best Villain Coronation Street Nominated [20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Will Mellor opens up on his battle with depression and the sudden death of his father". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 360. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ "Who is Will Mellor? Hollyoaks and Line of Duty star". Entertainment Daily. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Meet the cast of Line of Duty – who's who in the 'bent copper' series". Radio Times. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Mellor wins Fame Academy". 15 March 2003. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Merlin - Knight Valiant". BBC. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  7. ^ Barton, Steve (5 June 2012). "Stephen Rebello Shares Five Things You Never Knew About the Making of Psycho". Dread Central.
  8. ^ "Horrorfest '10: After Dark Heading Deep Into 'The Reeds' -". bloody-disgusting.com. 19 December 2009.
  9. ^ "BBC One – Waterloo Road, Series 6, Episode 18". BBC. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  10. ^ "BBC One Cancels Comedy Series 'In with the Flynns'". TV Wise. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Will Mellor's 'White Van Man' lands second series". Alex Fletcher. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  12. ^ "ITV announces Will Mellor will join the cast of Coronation Street". ITV. 9 February 2021.
  13. ^ Sam, Warner. "Coronation Street casts Will Mellor as drugs boss Harvey". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  14. ^ Harrison, Ellie (24 September 2022). "Will Mellor: Who is the Strictly Come Dancing 2022 contestant and what is he famous for?". The Independent. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  15. ^ "TV actor Will Mellor criticises Post Office boss" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  16. ^ "WILL MELLOR ON MARRIAGE". People.co.uk. 18 November 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  17. ^ "Will Mellor tells his kids he's OK as he cries on Strictly over death of his father". Independent.co.uk. 12 November 2022.
  18. ^ "National Television Awards 2003". ITV plc. Archived from the original on 1 August 2003. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  19. ^ Denham, Jess (19 May 2015). "TV Choice Awards 2015 nominations: Poldark and Broadchurch head up longlist". The Independent. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  20. ^ Alexander, Susannah (28 September 2021). "Inside Soap Awards announces 2021 longlist as voting opens – here's who's up for prizes". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
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Preceded by
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 Comic Relief Does Fame Academy Winner
Series 1 (2003) 		Succeeded by
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