To see Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher pootling round Leeds in his £2,000 silver Vauxhall Vectra, you’d never guess his high-octane hobby.

But, when he’s not playing hunky farmer Andy Sugden, Kelvin, 30, loves nothing more than hurtling round racetracks in a £100,000 Porsche.

He’s been racing competitively for two years – and is pretty good at it too.

+1
View gallery

Kelvin, 30, loves nothing more than hurtling round racetracks in a £100,000 Porsche

In only his first season, driving a much smaller car in the Mighty Minis Championship, Kelvin won the title, and then, having made a ‘huge’ step up to racing Porsches, came third in the GT3 Cup Challenge against far more experienced drivers. So does he fancy a career change?

‘I’d love a racing career, but as I didn’t start until I was 28 I missed years of experience,’ says Kelvin, who’s been playing Andy since he was 12.

‘But I’m getting the best of both worlds – acting in Emmerdale and racing. But I reckon if I’d started as a kid I’d be a professional by now.’

Kelvin’s passion for cars stretches back as far as he can remember. As a child he’d help his mechanic father. And he first drove a car aged 13 – joyriding his mum’s Vauxhall Corsa after a row. ‘I knew it would annoy her – so I took it down our drive,’ he laughs. ‘But part of her was impressed.’

In 2012, after spotting an advert for the Mighty Minis, he bought a £4,000 Mini and signed up – blitzing the opposition.

‘It was one of the best things I’ve done – biting off more than I could chew but coming through to win.’
He took part in a celebrity race against Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay and AC/DC singer Brian Johnson – and thrashed them. He laughs, ‘They probably thought, “Who the hell is he?”‘

That caught the eye of Porsche, who asked him to join their GT3 Cup Challenge, which he funded through sponsorship from the University of Bolton, which runs a Motorsport Technology degree that Kelvin is now studying towards.

Stepping up from a 60bhp Mini to a 450bhp Porsche was daunting. But he took it in his stride. ‘I was out of my depth, but finished third. I could be as quick as any of my rivals, but I can’t practice as much.’

At work too, Kelvin’s in the thick of the action. His character Andy, having lost the use of his arm in a farmyard accident, has been involved in a love-triangle with older woman Bernice Thomas and his ex-wife Katie Addyman. Viewers have seen Andy and Katie rekindle their relationship after she helped him recuperate.

But with Bernice returning from Australia this week, unaware he and his childhood sweetheart have grown close, she tries to win him back – with amusing results. ‘Playing the love triangle’s been brilliant because there’s been some great comedy scenes,’ grins Kelvin.

‘I love Bernice’s character – plus she’s an amazing comedy actress. My character’s in loads of love triangles but I’ve led a sheltered life! Women can’t keep their hands off Andy – I don’t know what it is!’

The best of both worlds indeed