EXCLUSIVE: Emmerdale star Lewis Cope has topped betting for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing winner

Lewis Cope has been announced as the last Strictly contestant (Image: Getty)

Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope has shot to the top of Strictly Come Dancing betting since being announced as Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn’s replacement. The 30-year-old soap star rose to fame as Nicky Miligan in ITV’s Emmerdale, and has also starred in Vera as Marcus Hyde – as well as making appearances in BBC’s Doctors and Hetty Feather.

I had the chance to meet Lewis before he was famous, and he showed his true colours from the off. Picture the scene – a very chilly press day at Emmerdale village in December 2022, just days before Nicky would first appear on-screens in the soap as Caleb Miligan’s secret son. Between interviews with the cast and a brief tour of the set, there was just enough time to get acquainted with the other journalists outside Pollard’s Barn.

Anyone who has ever worked on Emmerdale will confirm that the Harewood House set gets cold in wintertime. Nestled above Leeds in the Yorkshire Dales, the stately home is surrounded by countryside and offered barely any protection from the windchill.

I chatted briefly to Rosie Bentham, who plays Gabby Thomas, about how she copes with the brutal weather and she confided it’s a common complaint amongst cast and crew. Thankfully they’re able to bundle up in huge puffer coats to ward off the worst of it, and I was thankful for my three layers that day.

But it was Lewis Cope who left me speechless with one gesture. While I rubbed my hands together to warm them, he cut off from chatting to me and suddenly disappeared inside.

When he returned, it was with two HotHands hand warmer packets, which he quickly passed to me with a smile.

I met the upcoming Strictly star at an Emmerdale press day (Image: Jess Phillips)

It was probably a fleeting gesture for him, one that he forgot about on the drive home that night. But for me, it has stuck with me as one of the kindest things a celebrity has ever done for me, only amplified by how understated it was.

I’ve been a showbiz journalist for four years now, but I doubt even when I’m two decades into the job I’ll have forgotten that one act of kindness. I wish him the best of luck in Strictly!