Will Mellor

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 active	1990–present
Spouse	Michelle McSween ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2

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

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

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

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

• Test The Nation: The Popular Music Test (4 September 2004) - Guest
• All Star Family Fortunes (2011) – Contestant
• All Star Mr & Mrs (5 June 2013) – Contestant
• Big Star's Little Star (4 September 2013) – Contestant
• I Love My Country (28 September 2013) – Guest
• Through the Keyhole (2014, 2017) – Homeowner/panellist
• Celebrity Juice (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) – Guest
• A Question of Sport (2022) – Contestant

Awards and nominations

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

1. "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. 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.

External links

• Will Mellor at IMDb

Preceded by None

Comic Relief Does Fame Academy Winner Series 1 (2003)

Succeeded by Edith Bowman