Coronation Street's James Bailey shocked viewers o f the ITV soap when he suddenly collapsed on a football pitch. The Weatherfield County footballer hid his credentials in order to join the Rovers Return versus Flying Horse football match.
When the Flying Horse took the lead it was over to James to try and win the match. With only minutes remaining, James gave the game his all, putting the Rovers in front. But suddenly he collapsed and his dad Ed rushed across the pitch frantically calling an ambulance as eldest son Michael performs CPR.
He has since been told he suffered a cardiac arrest but will make a recovery. Howeber, his footballing career continues to hang by a thread as he learned he may have to give up his football career due to a heart condition known as cardiomyopathy.
With him at the centre of another important storyline, we thought we'd take a look into the life of the man who plays him, Nathan Graham. The actor joined the ITV soap in 2019 as part of the Bailey family. Nathan is believed to have studied musical theatre at Bird College and his only other television credit is for the short film Bus Stop Romeo.
But he has had stage success, having appeared in Dreamgirls, Miss Saigon, 20th Century Boy and Loserville. And it is pre-Corrie career that leads to his links to famous TV double act Ant and Dec.
Nathan actually appeared as a back-up dancer on the duo's hit ITV show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway back in 2015. He proudly posted a screengrab of himself standing behind Ant McPartlin to his Instagram page.
Fans of Coronation Street may also be surprised to learn that Nathan is a lot older than his character. The actor celebrates his 31st birthday on December 5, making him 10 years older than his onscreen persona. And he is also older than his Corrie co-star Ryan Russell, who plays James' older brother Michael in the ITV soap.
He last posted about his birthday in 2020 when he turned 30. Standing in front of a balloon display spelling out his age, he wrote: "Bruh, life comes at you fast! 30 Yano." And fans didn't believe his age to be true. @ nicolahoult said: "W ow you look younger happy birthday."
@_notsa_ replied: "B**ger off are you 30!" @vicky_powell2018 added: "Happy birthday Nathan.....seeing you have turned 30 makes me feel very old!!! Hope you have a great day! lots of love."
And the matter of his age did come up when he appearing on This Morning back in 2019 as he managed to stun hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby when they pointed out that he is not actually the youngest actor in the family.
When asked by Phillip if he still gets asked for ID, grinning Nathan replied: "Sometimes yeah, maybe now I might not hopefully." Holly also told him: "This is great. When you get older, you’re going to be loving the fact you look younger."
While not much is known about Nathan's off-screen love life, it does appear to have a bromance with his on-screen brother. He has often posted photos of him and Ryan together, from appearing on the red carpet at the British Soap Awrds, with Nathan penning: "My G," and last year when hanging out together during his birthday celebrations.
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