Coronation Street actor Sam Blakeman has won the hearts of the nation with his portrayal of Jude Riordan on the ITV soap.
But away from Weatherfield, the young actor who is just 11 has plenty of experience and is no stranger to the odd famous face.
In recent years, Sam was seen playing the grieving youngster who lost his mum Natasha Blakeman [Rachel Leskovac], who was gunned down by the notorious Harvey Gaskell.
Sam has taken on several dramatic storylines since making his first appearance on Corrie and had even exchanged secret letters with Rachel's killer while he was in prison.
Now, his character is set to embark on a sweet romance with none other than Hope Stape, the daughter of murderer John Stape and Fiz.
But it’s not his first time in front of the camera, and the youngster, who hails from St Helens in Merseyside, has been on TV screens since the age of five and comes from a very showbiz family.
Sam's dad is none other than Paul Riordan who has written several episodes of the Manchester-based soap.
Jude’s dad has also appeared on TV screens, appearing in Hollyoaks in the early days of his acting career in a behind-the-scenes role, but has since moved behind the camera.
Nowadays, he can be found writing for the likes of Emmerdale and Casualty.
But Sam and Paul have also worked together on the short film Missing Something with Casualty actor Michael Stevenson who plays Iain Dean in the BBC medical drama.
Back in 2017 Sam, he appeared on the hit Channel 4 documentary series The Secret Life of 5-Year-Olds, and he was a hit with viewers.
Described as a “happy chappy” by mum Kellie and dad Paul, Jude was seen enthusiastically taking part in all the activities in the fly-on-the-wall show.
Kellie said she signed Jude up for the two-week experiment because she wanted to see what her son was getting up to while nobody was looking, and she and Paul were overjoyed to see Jude’s personality shine through on the show.
“We are very proud of him, he is a good boy and it was lovely being a fly on the wall and seeing what he gets up to when he thinks no one is looking,” she told the St Helens Star.
He’s also had other high-profile roles, including in the hit Sky One show Brassic, playing Michelle Keegan’s son Tyler Croft, and it was recently confirmed he will be reprising his role as the youngster in the upcoming third series of the comedy.
The youngster has been tipped to go on to bigger projects as he gets older, and after he scooped the Best Newcomer gong at the National Television Awards, fans predicted he’ll be winning plenty of awards in the years to come.
“If Jude Riordan doesn't win a shedload of awards for his performance on tonight's @itvcorrie, he will have been robbed!” one viewer tweeted after Jude’s tear-jerking scenes on the ITV soap.
“Please give Jude Riordan all the awards, please. He's a phenomenal actor,” another added.
