Ben Richards

Ben Richards (born 27 March 1972 in West Sussex, England ) is a British stage and television actor and dancer.

Richards studied dance from an early age and later took part in theatre.

He gained supporting roles in London's West End and gradually filled the role of the lead.

After small roles in two films, Richards began his television career with guest roles in various British serials.

In 1993, he was playing Terry Johnson in Grease, with music direction by Mike Dixon.

Richards made his film debut in the 1997 movie Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis and in 1999 secured a role in Julie and the Cadillacs.

Guest roles followed in the BBC television series' Doctors and Holby City.

In 1998, he secured his first lead role playing Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever.

He later returned to the West End production of Grease, this time playing the lead character Danny Zuko.

In 2002 he played Jerry in The Full Monty and, in the following year, played the Dentist in the Little Shop of Horrors.

In 2004, he joined the regular cast of the ITV drama Footballers' Wives and after the series ended he resumed theatre work.

Richards went on to secure roles in Holby City and The Bill.

While working on the latter, Richards said that he would always pursue his career in theatre.

After leaving the series he returned to theatre work.

In 2004, Richards joined the cast of ITV's Footballers' Wives in the role of Bruno Milligan.

He also appeared in the ITV2 spin-off Footballers' Wives: Extra Time.

In early 2006, it was announced that Richards had joined the cast of Holby City playing a new character, Justin Fuller, remaining in the series for four months.

Richards then played Sky Masterson in the UK tour of Guys and Dolls in 2006.

That year Richards became a judge on the second series of Strictly Dance Fever.

In 2007, he began playing the role of Nate Roberts in police drama The Bill.

He also appeared as Nate for an episode of the German series Leipzig Homicide.

The character of Nate became popular and the producers signed Richards to a new one-year contract.

However, Richards told Laura Davidson of the Sunday Mail that he still wanted to pursue his career in musical theatre.

In 2010, Richards decided to leave The Bill before it was axed by ITV.

He then took over Jason Donovan's role of Tick in the West End production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

In 2011, Richards signed up to appear in a production of Peter Pan playing the role of Captain Hook, which premiered at the Grand Canal Theatre.

In an interview with RTE, Richards revealed that he had previously auditioned for roles in Coronation Street but was unsuccessful because of his southern accent.

In March 2012, while battling illness, Richards returned to his home town of Bognor Regis to perform his own show titled An Evening with Ben Richards.

He told a reporter from the Bognor Regis Observer that the show was a one-off to see how it would be received.

In June 2012, it was announced that Richards would be playing the part of Franklin Hart, Jr. in the first UK tour production of the Broadway musical, 9 to 5.

The tour began at the Manchester Opera House on 12 October 2012.

Richards continued to tour the show through 2013.

In 2015, he joined the cast of the soap opera Hollyoaks and finished filming the following year.

He then returned to stage roles in the West End.

In April 2015, it was announced that he had joined the cast of the soap opera Hollyoaks, playing the role of sergeant Ben Bradley.

He also had an additional guest role in Doctors playing Mr Kit.

Richards has also starred in many pantomimes including Beauty and the Beast, playing the Beast, at the Royal Theatre, Nottingham, in 2017.

Richards began dancing aged seven and later attended the dance college Laine Theatre Arts.

He later began appearing in a number of theatre productions in London's West End.

He appeared in supporting roles in the productions of Radio Times, Up on the Roof, Hot Mikado and Smokey Joe's Cafe.