Dayo Koleosho

Oludayo Koleosho was born in 1984 in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney. He is autistic.^[1] He attended Access All Areas, a theatre group in Hackney for adults with learning disabilities led by the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.^[2]

Koleosho made his professional acting debut in a 2010 episode of the BBC medical drama series Holby City.^[3] A year later, he appeared in fellow BBC medical series Doctors. He appeared alongside Access All Areas classmate Yvonne Swift in a storyline that saw them portray a married couple. The pair had their first on-screen kiss with each other, to which Koleosho said: "I had to kiss Yvonne. At first I thought 'oh no', but you just have to get on with it".^[2] In 2014, he made his stage debut in Eye Queue Hear, which toured the UK.^[4]

In 2016, Koleosho appeared in an episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Damned.^[5] In 2018, he performed in Madness at the Lowry Theatre, as well as #crazyfuturelove at the Battersea Arts Centre a year later.^[4] In 2019 and again from 2021 to 2024, Koleosho toured the UK and Europe in productions of Faith, Hope and Charity. In 2022, he had a recurring role in the BBC drama series Strike,^[6] appearing in the BBC's medical drama Casualty the following year.^[1][7] In 2024, he was cast in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.^[8] Appearing in the regular role of Kojo Asare, he made his first appearance on 27 August 2024.^[9] He was introduced as the brother of established character George Knight (Colin Salmon).^[10]