Inside Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope’s life away from the Strictly ballroom

Lewis Cope is part of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing cast (Picture: PA Wire)

Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope is currently gearing up to perform for the first time in the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom.

The actor, known for his role as Nicky Miligan in the ITV soap, joined the cast of the reality TV show last minute as a result of another star pulling out.

Over in Emmerdale Nicky’s true identity was revealed to us in in 2023. It was confirmed that he’s the son of Caleb Miligan (William Ash), with the two teaming up to take down Kim Tate (Claire King).

At the time, Caleb had a secret of his own, being the son of Kim’s ex-husband Frank, and had roped his son into his scheming ways to get their hands on Home Farm!

In a further twist, Nicky couldn’t go through with his plans to marry Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham), coming clean with her and revealing that he was in fact gay and in a secret relationship.

Since then we saw him and new boyfriend Suni Sharma (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana) caught up in a horrific homophobic attack outside of a nightclub.

As the Strictly competition gets underway, let’s turn our attention to Lewis Cope and find out a little more about the life and relationships of the Emmerdale star…

Who is Lewis Cope?

Lewis Cope, 30, is an English actor from Hartlepool who has played Nicky Milligan on Emmerdale since December 2022.

In the past he’s appeared in BBC daytime soap Doctors and the ITV drama Vera, which is filmed in his home region of the North East.

He began his career on the stage however after taking up dancing from a young age, appearing as one of the leading roles in Billy Elliot: The Musical on the West End when he was just 11.

Keen fans may also recognise Lewis from the advert for David Beckham’s fragrance Bold Instinct after Lewis’ story caught the eye of the soccer superstar.

Nicky is Caleb Miligan’s son (Picture: ITV)

Lewis discussed his family life during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, and that he has a lot of brothers and sisters – and we mean a lot.

Lorraine asked ‘Because everybody’s so friendly, and it is a family, a big family. You are used to that. How many brothers and sisters have you got?’

‘So I’m one of 14,’ he replied, much to Lorraine’s surprise.

She exclaimed: ’14! Good grief, what is Christmas like round at your house?’. to which he responded: ‘Lovely, yeah. I love it!’

Upon his casting, he told Luxe magazine: ‘It’s very surreal. My Nana loves Emmerdale, she’s watched it religiously for as long as I can remember. To now be part of the show she loves so much is amazing.’

Who did Lewis Cope replace on Strictly and who is his partner?

Lewis’ professional partner is Katya Jones (Picture: BBC/Ray Burmiston)

In August, it was revealed that Lewis had been confirmed as a Strictly contestant after Kristian Nairn was forced to pull out due to medical reasons.

‘I haven’t really had time to think about it so the excitement can take over,’ Lewis said at the time, explaining how being a latecomer to the action may not be such a bad thing.

‘I want someone that’s going to push me,’ he said of his dancing partner, while announcing the news on The One Show.

Last Saturday’s launch show saw Lewis paired with professional dancer Katya Jones. Her previous partners include Ed Balls, Joe McFadden and Mike Bushell.

Does Lewis Cope have a girlfriend?

Lewis does indeed have a girlfriend, fellow actor and fitness instructor Rachel Lopez, with the couple often pictured together on each other’s Instagram.

Lopez is originally from Dublin, with them spending time in her home city in Christmas 2022.

At the time, Lewis wrote: ‘6 years of Dublin at Christmas with you 💫 Wouldn’t have it any other way❤️’

Other snaps include numerous envious shots of sun-drenched getaways to the Greek islands of Mykonos and Naxos, with one photo of the pair sweetly stating ‘thank you for being you.’

When did Nicky leave Emmerdale?

Nicky and Suni departed the village in June last year.

The decision came after Nicky learnt that Ruby had hit Ethan Anderson (Emile John) with her car.

Ethan collapsed and died in the days following being run over, with Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin) being convinced that it was the hit and run that had killed him.

When the news arrived that Ethan had an aneurysm that was nothing to do with the hit and run, Caleb and Ruby celebrated with a brandy.

This disgusted Nicky who thought they were being disrespectful to Ethan’s memory. Ruby tried to reason with him but the argument escalated and ended up with Nicky punching his dad and vowing never to speak to his parents again.

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