Kelvin Fletcher

Kelvin Warren Fletcher (born 17 January 1984) is an English actor and racing driver, best known for playing Andy Sugden in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale from 1996 until 2016. In 2019, Fletcher won the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing with his professional partner Oti Mabuse.

Kelvin Fletcher
Born
Kelvin Warren Fletcher

(1984-01-17) 17 January 1984
Oldham, Greater Manchester, England
OccupationActor, model, automobile racing driver
Years active1994–present
Known forEmmerdale (1996–2016)
Spouse(s)
Elizabeth Marsland
(
m. 2015)
Children2

Career

He attended Mayfield Primary School in Derker for his primary school education, and North Chadderton School for his secondary education.[1]

Born the oldest of three boys, his youngest brother Brayden Fletcher also acts. At the age of six, Fletcher started attending drama classes at the Oldham Theatre Workshop and was first seen on television on a Saturday Disney report when he was starring as Charlie in Charlie Is My Darling, which he also performed in a special show at the London Palladium. From there he went on to star in a string of television shows, in programmes such as In Suspicious Circumstances, Cracker, Heartbeat and Chiller. He also co-presented an episode of You've Been Framed with Jeremy Beadle. He also had a bit part in another famous British soap opera, Coronation Street. In 1996 he was selected to audition for Emmerdale for the part of tearaway Andy Hopwood, a schoolfriend of Robert Sugden. The character was originally only scripted to appear in 3 episodes but was soon offered a longer contract. Fletcher went on to become one of the leading and most popular characters in the show, winning Best Actor and Best Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards.

Kelvin was once a National Champion in the minority sport Inline Hockey. He played for local club 'Chaddy' Wildsharks. He was a national champion in 1998 when he and his team travelled to Newcastle and won the tournament over a weekend. Whilst playing for the 'Chaddy' Wildsharks he gained many young fans who knew him from Emmerdale fame. They would turn out to watch him play, giving the 'Chaddy' Wildsharks junior team a larger than average audience.

On 8 September 2019, it was announced that Fletcher would be a competitor in the 2019 series of the BBC television competition Strictly Come Dancing, as a replacement for actor Jamie Laing, who had to withdraw from the show prior to airing due to a foot injury. He went on the reach the final and win the competition. This also meant that his dance partner, Oti Mabuse, won her first title on the show.[2]

Motor racing career

Fletcher first ventured into motor racing after a visit to a motoring show with his father in January 2012.[1] He obtained an MSA Competition Licence and won the 2012 Silverstone Classic Celebrity Challenge race. Fletcher also competed in the Mighty Mini's and the Team Trophy. He was invited to partake in the Porsche Supercup support race of the 2014 British Grand Prix, where he finished 22nd.[3]

He signed a contract to drive a Chevrolet Cruze entered by the Power Maxed Racing team in the 2016 British Touring Car Championship in March that year.[4] Fletcher missed the Knockhill Racing Circuit and the Rockingham Motor Speedway rounds because his wife was due to give birth to their first child imminently. Dave Newsham drove his car instead.[5][6] During the season, Fletcher competed in 24 races spread over eight rounds of three events. He scored no points and was 31st in the final drivers' championship standings.[7]

For the 2017 season, Fletcher moved to the British GT Championship and shared a Nissan 370Z Nismo with fellow driver Tim Eakin for the UltraTek Racing RJN in the GT4 category.[8] He was mentored by FIA World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans class victor Martin Plowman during his rookie season.[9] After three years of running in GT4 with Plowman, they will move up to the GT3 class in a Bentley Continental.[10]

Personal life

Fletcher married fellow actor Elizabeth Marsland, whom he had known since aged eight, in a secret ceremony on 28 November 2015.[11] They have two children.[12] Fletcher is also a fan of rugby league; growing up, he was a fan of Paul Sculthorpe and Kevin Sinfield as they were both from Oldham, and he makes occasional appearances at testimonial matches of famous players. He is also a fan of Speedway and was a friend of former World Champion Chris Holder and Darcy Ward

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1994 Three Seven Eleven Darren 10 episodes
1994 Cracker Boy Episode: "The Big Crunch: Part 3"
1995 Chiller Gordon Episode: "Number Six"
1995 Heartbeat Colin Ellis Episode: "Unfinished Business"
1996–2016 Emmerdale Andy Sugden Main Cast
2019 Strictly Come Dancing Contestant (partnered with Oti Mabuse) Series winner

Racing results

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 DC Points
2014 Redline Racing Porsche 991 GT3 PA2 BRH
1
12		 BRH
2
11		 DON
1
 DON
2
 SIL
1
8		 SIL
2
6		 BRH
1
 BRH
2
 13th 46
Team Parker Racing THR
1
10		 THR
2
10		 SAR
1
 CRO
1
 CRO
2
 SNE
1
 SNE
2
 KNO
1
 KNO
2
 ROC
1
 ROC
2

Complete Porsche Supercup results
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
2014 Porsche Cars GB ESP
 MON
 AUT
 GBR
22		 GER
 HUN
 BEL
 ITA
 USA
 USA
 NC† 0†

† As Fletcher was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2016 Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze BRH
1
Ret		 BRH
2
25		 BRH
3
Ret		 DON
1
24		 DON
2
Ret		 DON
3
20		 THR
1
Ret		 THR
2
23		 THR
3
17		 OUL
1
29		 OUL
2
23		 OUL
3
22		 CRO
1
Ret		 CRO
2
22		 CRO
3
Ret		 SNE
1
Ret		 SNE
2
Ret		 SNE
3
18		 KNO
1		 KNO
2		 KNO
3		 ROC
1		 ROC
2		 ROC
3		 SIL
1
22		 SIL
2
22		 SIL
3
26		 BRH
1
24		 BRH
2
24		 BRH
3
21		 31st 0

Complete British GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
2017 Team RJN Nissan with UltraTek Nissan 370Z GT4 GT4 OUL
1
23		 OUL
2
19		 ROC
1
22		 SNE
1
25		 SNE
2
19		 SIL
1
24		 SPA
1
23		 SPA
2
23		 BRH
1
19		 DON
1
Ret		 22nd 9
2018 UltraTek Racing / Team RJN Nissan 370Z GT4 GT4 OUL
1
32		 OUL
2
17		 ROC
1
13		 SNE
1
22		 SNE
2
22		 SIL
1
19		 SPA
1
20		 BRH
1
10		 DON
1
Ret		 9th 65.5
2019 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 GT4 OUL
1
18		 OUL
2
17		 SNE
1
21		 SNE
2
19		 SIL
1
14		 DON
1
20		 SPA
1
23		 BRH
1
17		 DON
1
15		 5th 98.5
gollark: What would you say is fast and intuitive, and intuitive and simple?
gollark: It's a shame there's no way to make that show a different thing depending on who looks at it. Though I guess I could do that with my website.
gollark: The only good language is HaskirusCvathon++.js.
gollark: I think we need snake detectors at airports, obviously.
gollark: Couldn't snakes be deliberately put on a plane by terrorists?

References
  1. "Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher is mastering a real-life role as a racing driver". Lancashire Life. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  2. Hogan, Michael (8 September 2019). "Kelvin Fletcher could be Strictly's ballroom blessing in disguise". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  3. "Soap star tackles grand prix circuit". Oldham Evening Chronicle. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  4. James, Matt (22 March 2016). "Emmerdale TV actor lands BTCC drive for 2016". Autosport. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  5. "Newsham in at PowerMaxed as fatherhood looms for Fletcher". ITV Sport. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  6. "Newsham stands in for Fletcher at Rockingham". MotorsportDays.com. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  7. "Kelvin Fletcher: 2016 British Touring Car Championship Stats". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  8. Kilshaw, Jake (8 February 2017). "Nissan, RJN Return to British GT with UltraTek". SportsCar365. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  9. "Driver spotlight: Kelvin Fletcher". British GT Championship. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  10. "Jones and Malvern make GT3 graduation with Team Parker Racing". britishgt.com. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  11. Fletcher, Harry (5 December 2015). "Emmerdale's Kelvin Fletcher secretly marries long-term girlfriend Liz Marsland". Digital Spy. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  12. Ransom, Jessica (11 February 2019). "Soap star reveals he's welcomed his second child". GoodtoKnow. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Scott Malvern
Nick Jones		 British GT Championship
GT4 Pro-Am Champion
2019
With: Martin Plowman		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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