Nick Pickard is an English actor. He is known for his portrayal of Tony Hutchinson in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'', a role he has held since its first episode in 1995; he remains the longest-serving cast member and, in 2017, won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Early life

As a child he attended the

Corona Theatre School Corona Theatre School (formerly Corona Academy) was founded in 1950 as a performing arts academy in west London. After the retirement of its owner, Rona Knight, it reopened as Ravenscourt Theatre School in 1989. History Corona Academy Rona ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, followed by Sylvia Young Theatre School.

Career

In his acting debut, Pickard played Mio, the lead role in '' Mio in the Land of Faraway'' (1987), starring alongside a young Christian Bale, where he was credited as Nicholas Pickard. In 1993, Pickard played a minor role in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'', appearing as a young homeless boy. In addition, Pickard has appeared in other television programmes, including '' Us Girls'' and ''If You Were Me''. He appeared in music videos for " Over My Shoulder" (for Mike + The Mechanics) and " Almost Unreal" (for Roxette). He landed the role of Tony Hutchinson in ''

'' in 1995, becoming a member of the original cast. Foy 2009, p.4. He remains in the role to date, and has since become the longest-serving cast member, having played the part since the inaugural episode. Over the years, Pickard has been nominated for a number of awards independently and some nominations with colleagues. In 2017, Pickard won the

British Soap Award The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV (TV network), ITV. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal a ...

for Outstanding Achievement in honour of his achievement of playing the role for 22 years. In 2005, Pickard's brother John joined the cast of ''Hollyoaks'', portraying the role of Dominic Reilly, the half-brother of Tony. When John left the programme in 2010, '' The Daily Star'' released a news article claiming that Pickard was set to follow in his brother's footsteps and depart ''Hollyoaks'', stating that he was "disgusted" with his brother's "axing". However, Pickard denied these reports, confirming that he was happy and had no intentions to leave the soap. Pickard has appeared in theatre productions including '' Richard II'', '' An Enemy of the People'' and ''Edward II''. He also joined the cast of the 2009 pantomime adaption of ''Cinderella'' at Liverpool Empire Theatre, where he portrayed Dandini. His break from ''Hollyoaks'' to perform in Cinderella was planned and written into the show. In 2011, Pickard participated in the sixth series of '' Celebrity MasterChef'', where he reached the final though lost out to Phil Vickery. In 2016, he once again participated in a game show, appearing in an episode of '' Pointless Celebrities'', playing the game in a partnership with his ''Hollyoaks'' colleague Alex Fletcher. In November 2023, he participated in the twenty-third series of ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' and, on 6 December, was the 4th celebrity to be eliminated from the show.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickard, Nick English male soap opera actors Living people Male actors from Surrey Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement winners Year of birth missing (living people)