Celebrity Big Brother star and Heartstopper actor Bradley Riches has joined the cast of Emmerdale in a mysterious new role, with the scenes set to debut in May

Bradley has signed up for a new regular role on Emmerdale – but whose storyline is his arrival linked to?

Celebrity Big Brother star Bradley Riches is joining Emmerdale in a mysterious new role. The actor and reality star – best known for his role in Heartstopper – is joining the Yorkshire soap for a special and mysterious role.

It has been announced by Emmerdale that Bradley will begin filming this week, with the character’s scenes set to air in May this year. Not much is being revealed about Bradley’s special role on the soap or who he will be playing.

Speaking about the new role, he said: “I’m beyond excited to be joining Emmerdale! It’s a real bucket list moment for me, especially since it was my grandad’s favourite soap, I just know he’d be over the moon.

“Everyone has been so lovely and welcoming, and the village is even more amazing in real life. I absolutely love my character (though I can’t spill too much just yet!), and I’m just so grateful for this opportunity. I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s in store.”

Bradley will play a mysterious new character

Emmerdale producer, Laura Shaw, added: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Bradley to the Emmerdale family. Bradley brings a wealth of talent and his warmth, wit and charisma makes him perfect for this new Emmerdale role.”

Teasing what’s to come, she shared: “We have some wonderful stories for him to play and we can’t wait for the audience to see Bradley bring his new character bursting into life on screen.”

Bradley rose to fame in Heartstopper, which he had originally joined just as an extra, before being offered a series regular role.

“I had like one line in season one! And then I was studying and stuff like that. Then I got a random email one day saying, ‘Can you come in tomorrow to audition for a new character called James?’ I was like, okay.

“And it was kind of wild that they remembered me from that one line a year back,” he recalled to Buzzfeed.

Offering advice to others, he shared: “Just get involved. I think that’s the big thing I learned. It’s like, you just want to get your name out there and like meet people. I nearly didn’t do the one line as well. Because I didn’t want to miss a day of college, but my mum was like ‘Just do it, we’ll pretend you’re ill; just go for it.’ And if I didn’t do it I wouldn’t be sat here.”

On Emmerdale, there are some big storylines going round at present – including Joe Tate’s desperation to save his life, Manpreet’s blackmail story and Nate’s shock death – but will Bradley’s character have a role to play in one of these or something else?