EXCLUSIVE: Heartstopper’s Bradley Riches spoke to the Mirror about ITV soap Emmerdale on the red carpet of the BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises recently ahead of his debut
New cast member Bradley Riches has teased what fans can expect on Emmerdale following the arrival of his character Lewis Barton this week. The actor spoke about the ITV show recently ahead of his first scene in the village airing tonight.
It was announced in March that Bradley, 23, known for his role on Netflix’s Heartstopper, had joined the cast of the long-running soap opera. Details of the new role were later revealed ahead of his on-screen debut, with Lewis said to be Emmerdale’s first openly neurodivergent character.
Lewis, who is said to be autistic, like actor Bradley, is being introduced as a sibling of established character Ross Barton (played by Michael Parr). It’s been teased that he turns up wanting to know about their late mother Emma Barton (Gillian Kearney), who was killed off back in 2017.
The Mirror spoke to Bradley about Emmerdale at the BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises last weekend. The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate was among the guests at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday.
Whilst on the red carpet, Bradley promised that there is “drama” ahead and that family “issues” will surface following the arrival of his character. Asked to tease what’s coming up, he told us: “Drama, past things coming up and family issues.”
It’s previously been teased that the circumstances of Emma’s death could be brought to light amid the new storyline on Emmerdale. She was pushed off a viaduct by sister-in-law Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb) eight years ago.
Prior to her death, Emma hadn’t mentioned that she had another child. She notably didn’t share the news with her other sons Ross, Pete Barton (Anthony Quinlan) and the late Finn Barton (Joe Gill) once reunited with them.
Lewis is said to have been born while she was away from her late husband James Barton (Bill Ward) and sons. Emma had been absent from the family prior to her arrival in the village in 2015, just two years before she was killed off.
Bradley previously told us and other press: “There was a moment where she left the family, a space of two to three years in which she had a secret child, which was me. She gave me away for adoption.” He said that Lewis didn’t “know her” but “knew of her” whilst he was growing up.
It’s been teased that Moira will be left panicked by the new arrival over concerns that Lewis could discover what really happened to Emma, who was thought to have taken her own life. Moira appeared to be haunted by Emma’s death last year.
Cast member Michael suggested recently that Moira feels “a lot guilt”. He said: “There’s a lot of secrets and a lot of guilt for Moira, so it’s quite a pressurising time for her to find out there’s a new Barton who’s got a lot of questions and there’s only Moira and Ross who have the answers.”
Emmerdale continues tonight from 7.30pm on ITV, STV, ITVX and STV Player.
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