Rory Douglas-Speed (born Rory Douglas Speed; 7 April 1992) is a Scottish actor. He studied at

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

, and is best known for portraying the role of Joel Dexter 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 A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

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 ...

from 2016 to 2025.

Career

Following university, Douglas-Speed was cast in the part of Sick Boy in a stage production of

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

's novel (and, later, film)

Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundt ...

at the

King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. The original venue was the oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2024, the pub theatre, and the King's Head Theatre now operates from a purpose-b ...

, in London. Between 2016 and 2025, he played Joel Dexter on ''

'', taking over the role from Andrew Still.

Personal life

Douglas-Speed is in a relationship with ''Hollyoaks'' co-star

Nadine Mulkerrin Nadine Rose Mulkerrin (born 23 June 1993) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Cleo McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2015 until 2022 and since 2024. For her portrayal of Cleo, she has been nominated for ...

. The couple announced their engagement in December 2018 and in June 2019, they announced that they are expecting their first child. Their son was born on 15 October 2019. On 25 December 2021, Mulkerrin and Douglas-Speed announced that they were expecting their second child, and their second son was born on 24 May 2022. Douglas-Speed has

type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone require ...

.Rory Douglas-Speed: Learning to laugh at type 1 diabetes podcast
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References

External links

* Living people Scottish male soap opera actors 1992 births {{UK-tv-actor-1990s-stub