Bradley Riches

Bradley Stephen Riches was born on 11 December 2001 in Surrey, England.^[1][2][3] He was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 9.^[4][5] He was also nonverbal until he was 10.^[6] Shortly after, he began attending a drama group after which he said he "found [he] had this voice" and became more confident in communicating with people.^[1] Riches went on to graduate from Emil Dale Academy with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Musical Theatre, awarded by the University of Bedfordshire.^[7] He wrote his dissertation on the challenges for neurodivergent performers.^[6]

Riches made his stage debut in 2016, appearing as twins Ben and Lisa in the musical Disaster!. He went on to appear in various other stage productions including Goodnight Mister Tom, Monstersongs, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Footloose and Kin the Musical. He also had a minor role as a soldier in the film 1917.^[8] In April 2022, Riches portrayed a student at Truham Grammar School in the Netflix teen series Heartstopper.^[9][10] His character was later established in the second series as James McEwan, who has a crush on Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan).^[11][12]

In November 2023, Riches released his debut book, "A" Different Kind Of Superpower. It is a semi-autobiographical children's book that recalls Riches' autism diagnosis as a nine-year-[...] and reframes neurodivergence in all its forms as a superpower". Riches said he wanted to "expand on [his] story so that as many people as possible could find themselves in some part of the character's journey".^[13] In March 2024, Riches was a Housemate Celebrity Big Brother in its twenty-third series finishing 6th with 1.6% of the final vote after a surprise back door eviction^[14][15][16] Later in the year, he appeared in the BBC One comedy horror series Wreck as Freddie.^[17][18][19]

In December 2024, Riches made his pantomime debut at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre in Buckinghamshire in The Further Adventures of Peter Pan: The Return of Captain Hook.^[20] In March 2025, it was announced that Riches would be joining the cast of ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Lewis Barton, a regular character and addition to the established Barton family.^[21][22] In 2026, he released his second book, Autistically Me.^[23]

Riches is gay and said that "as a gay person with autism, he 'found it hard to navigate' a world that is 'fit for neurotypical people'".^[24] In April 2024, he became engaged to theatre director Scott Johnston.^[25] They got married on 8 April 2026.^[26]

• "A" Different Kind Of Superpower (2023)^[13]
• Autistically Me (2026)^[26]