Emmerdale star Lisa Riley has befriended her new co-star Bradley Riches, with the pair sharing a heartfelt exchange on social media.
Riches, who has appeared on Heartstopper and Celebrity Big Brother, was confirmed to be joining the ITV soap last month in a “mysterious” new role, with the actor currently filming his initial scenes.
Ahead of his on-screen debut in the coming weeks, Riches praised his co-star Riley in an exchange on Instagram, describing the actor – who plays Mandy Dingle on the soap – as “the best”.
“Just typed into AI… Exactly how I felt about my days filming today at @emmerdale today-full day in the studio, with deliciously gorgeous cast and crew. It’s a renaissance feeling, exploding firework of happy. There you go #emmerdale” wrote Riley as she shared an image of several smiley faces.
“You are the best! Xxx” commented Riches, who will make his Emmerdale debut next month, with Riley replying: “@brad_riches you’re not too bloody bad yourself- come on babes admit it, it was my Wednesday playlist-which I know you also adored 💋 kisses coming for free 💋”
𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆 & 𝑾𝒆𝒃𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆: C𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬.𝙞𝒏𝙛𝒐
Riches, who plays James McEwan on Heartstopper, had expressed his glee at joining the soap in a statement, sharing: “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…”
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“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Bradley to the Emmerdale family,” added executive producer Laura Shaw. “Bradley brings a wealth of talent and his warmth, wit and charisma makes him perfect for this new Emmerdale role.
“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,” she continued, adding that more details regarding his character would be released in the “coming weeks”.
