Lewis Cope

For the fictional character, see Lewis Cope (River City).

Lewis Cope (born 19 March 1995) is an English actor and dancer. After beginning his career as a child actor appearing in a West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical, he competed in the Sky One dance series Got to Dance, finishing as a runner-up on the third series in 2013. Cope then went on to act in series including Hetty Feather, Doctors and Vera. In 2022, he was cast as Nicky Miligan in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. After the leaving the series in 2024, he is currently appearing as a contestant on the twenty-third series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Lewis Cope
Born	(1995-03-19) 19 March 1995 (age 30) Hartlepool, County Durham, England
Occupations	Actor dancer
Years active	2008–present
Television	Emmerdale Strictly Come Dancing

Life and career

Cope was born on 19 March 1995 in Hartlepool, County Durham, and has 13 siblings.^[1][2][3] He attended both English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College and Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.^[2]

In 2008, aged 13, Cope was cast in the role of Michael in a West End theatre production of Billy Elliot the Musical.^[4] In 2010, he appeared in the BBC sketch show The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson.^[5] He subsequently joined the hip-hop dance troupe Ruff Diamond, who finished as runner-up on the Sky One dance competition Got to Dance in 2013.^[6] Cope went on to appear in the short films A Six and Two Threes and Waterbabies, as well as television series including Hetty Feather (2019), Doctors (2019) and Vera (2021).^[7] His stage credits include Richard III (2017), Punk Rock (2017), Macbeth (2017), The Night Watch (2018), Spilt (2018), Candide (2018), F$%k Magical Michael (2019), Witness for the Prosecution (2019) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2022).^[8]

In 2022, Cope joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Nicky Miligan.^[9] He was initially introduced as a male nanny who attends an interview for a job caring for Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) and Dawn Fletcher's (Olivia Bromley) children at Home Farm, before being established as the son of Caleb Miligan (William Ash), and the grandson of Frank Tate (Norman Bowler) and Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter).^[10] He departed the soap in July 2024, with the character leaving alongside boyfriend Suni Sharma (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana).^[11][12]

In 2023, Cope appeared in an episode of the mystery crime series Mrs Sidhu Investigates.^[13] In August 2025, Cope was announced as a contestant on the twenty-third series of Strictly Come Dancing, as a replacement for Kristian Nairn, who withdrew from the competition due to health issues.^[7][14] He is partnered with Katya Jones.^[15]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson	Various	1 episode	[8]
2013	Got to Dance	Himself	Runner-up; series 4	[16]
2015	A Six and Two Threes	Bully	Short film	[8]
2018	Waterbabies	Owen	Short film	[8]
2019	Hetty Feather	Wilfred	Episode: "The Return"	[17]
2019	Doctors	Tom Griffiths	Episode: "Trapped"	[18]
2021	Vera	Marcus Hynde	Episode: "Witness"	[19]
2022–2024	Emmerdale	Nicky Miligan	Regular role	[20]
2023	Mrs Sidhu Investigates	Lenny Lowe	Episode: "On the Ropes"	[21]
2025	Strictly Come Dancing	Himself	Contestant; series 23	[22]

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2008	Billy Elliot the Musical	Michael	[23]
2017	Richard III	Henry VI / Richmond	[8]
2017	Punk Rock	Nicholas	[8]
2017	Macbeth	Banquo	[8]
2018	The Night Watch	Duncan	[8]
2018	Spilt	Chase	[8]
2018	Candide	Ben	[8]
2019	F$%k Magical Michael	D	[8]
2019	Witness for the Prosecution	Leonard Vole	[8]
2022	The Legend of Sleepy Hollow	Brom "Bones" Van Brunt	[8]