Emmerdale star Bradley Riches is set to take a short break from the Dales as he has been announced to take on a stage role later this year.

Riches, who plays Lewis Barton on the ITV soap, is trading Yorkshire for Neverland during the 2026 festive season as he’s joining the cast of a Christmas panto in the role of Peter Pan.

The soap star, also seen in Netflix’s Heartstopper and on Celebrity Big Brother UK, will play the titular role of Peter Pan in the Further Adventures of Peter Pan: The Return of Captain Hook at the Sunderland Empire.

The theatre announced the news on its socials on 4 March after previously teasing the role with just a silhouette picture of the star as Peter Pan.

“BRADLEY RICHES from Netflix’s Heartstopper, Emmerdale and Big Brother is flying into Sunderland this Christmas as our thrill-seeking hero, Peter Pan!” the theatre captioned the official announcement on Instagram.

Riches joined Emmerdale as Lewis last year, relocating to the Dales to track down his half-brother Ross. Since then, the character landed a job at the village’s cafe, making improvements for the business.

Lewis also opened up about being autistic and has recently struck up a romance with Vinny Dingle, while he remains in the dark about who his real father is.

Had Riches joined the soap a few years back, he wouldn’t have been able to take his panto gig and keep his role on Emmerdale. After previously losing actors to panto and other stage roles, ITV has decided to scrap the rule that reportedly required soap stars to quit their jobs to take to the boards.

Now, actors from both Emmerdale and Coronation Street are able to take a break from soap and appear in panto — with a little planning and plenty of notice.

It isn’t clear when Riches is leaving Emmerdale or how his exit storyline will play out. However, he previously shared that he’s “happy and fulfilled” and planned to stay on the ITV soap “until they kill me” (via the Daily Star).

“I’ll go wherever the wind blows!”