Hollyoaks star Nick Pickard, who is the longest-serving cast member playing the role of Tony Hutchinson, is entering the jungle on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!
Nick, 48 is best known for his role in the hit Channel 4 soap having joined the show as Tony when it launched in 1995 but has also appeared in a string of other TV and quiz shows. He studied at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and Corona Theatre School and has been nominated for several awards over the years – in 2017, he won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement.
What fans might not know is that he also owns a few restaurants in Sheffield and has a daughter named Ellie. As we watch Nick take on the creepy crawlies in the jungle, let's take a closer look at his life off screen…
Rival soap
Before becoming Tony Hutchinson in Hollyoaks, Nick had a small role as a homeless boy in rival soap EastEnders. He took on this part in 1993, two years before he got his big break in Hollyoaks.
But his first acting gig was playing Mio in the fantasy film Mio in the Land of Faraway, released in 1987. He also appeared in You Rang, M'Lord? and music videos for Roxette and Mike + The Mechanics.
Co-star romance
Nick had a romance with his Hollyoaks co-star Joanna Taylor, who played Geri Hudson on the show. They dated for a year after meeting on set in 2001, but eventually split up.
Joanna later married Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy in 2004, but they announced their separation in January 2019 after 15 years together. After leaving Hollyoaks, Joanna, now 43, starred in BBC One's police drama Merseybeat as PC Jackie Brown.
In 2004, she appeared in the American film Post Impact alongside Dean Cain. Joanna turned her hand to writing in 2005, penning a weekly column for The Times as a "footballer's wife".
After taking a break from acting, she returned to the screen in the British independent film Back in Business, opposite Martin Kemp, in 2007.
Famous brother
The soap star has a brother called John who joined the cast of Hollyoaks in 2005, playing the role of Dominic Reilly, Tony's half-brother. John, who left the show in 2010, was rumoured to have sparked his brother Nick's exit from Hollyoaks after he expressed his displeasure over John's departure.
However, Nick dismissed these rumours, stating that he was content and had no plans to leave the soap. John is best known for his role as David Porter in the BBC sitcom 2point4 Children.
He also appeared in Series 13 and 14 of the children's BBC drama series Grange Hill as Neil Timpson between 1990 and 1991. In 2008, he joined the cast of Doctor Who Audio Dramas as Thomas Brewster in The Haunting of Thomas Brewster.
John has also showcased his acting prowess in various plays including Same Time, Next Year, Writebites, Aphrodite Blugs, Stroke Me, Saved, Romeo and Juliet and An Enemy of the People.
MasterChef
The TV star brothers have also shared screen time on ITV's cooking show Soapstar Superchef in 2007. In 2011, Nick made it to the final of Celebrity MasterChef's sixth series but lost to This Morning chef Phil Vickery.
He also appeared on BBC's Pointless Celebrities in 2016, teaming up with his Hollyoaks co-star Alex Fletcher, who portrays Tony's wife Diane Hutchinson.
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