Best known for playing Andy Sugden in ITV's Emmerdale, Kelvin Fletcher has undergone a remarkable transformation, trading the soap's fictional village for a very real 120-acre farm in the Peak District. This weekend, as he celebrates his 42nd birthday and appears on James Martin's Saturday Morning with wife Liz, we trace the actor's major career shifts and the 'nightmare' fire that threatened it all.
From Child Actor to Soap Star
Kelvin Fletcher's life in the spotlight began in 1994 when he was just a child. He landed the role of Darren in the CITV children's drama Three Seven Eleven for ten episodes. His big break arrived at the age of 12 when he joined the cast of Emmerdale as tearaway teen Andy Hopwood. The character later became Andy Sugden after a storyline adoption by the Sugden family.
Fletcher remained a staple of the popular ITV soap for an impressive 20 years before deciding to leave in 2016. He revealed at the time that he had developed an "appetite to try something else," paving the way for a dramatic pivot in his professional life.
Racing Driver and Strictly Champion
That "something else" turned out to be professional motor racing, a hobby he discovered in 2012 after visiting the Autosport International show with his father. His talent was evident, and he quickly progressed. By 2014, he was competing in the Porsche Supercup support race at the British Grand Prix.
He made his professional debut two years later and in 2019, he won the Pro-Am title in the British GT Championship while driving for Beechdean AMR. Remarkably, 2019 was also the year he triumphed in Strictly Come Dancing. Called in as a last-minute replacement for Jamie Laing, Fletcher and his professional partner Oti Mabuse went on to lift the Glitterball Trophy.
Reflecting on the win, he said he didn't hear their names called. "I saw Oti almost collapse [and thought] 'Oh, we must have won'. When your name is read out, it's absolute disbelief," he later told BBC Breakfast.
A New Life on the Land and a Devastating Setback
In 2021, Fletcher's life took its most significant turn. He and his family purchased a 120-acre farm in the Peak District, launching a new venture documented in their ITV series, Fletcher's Family Farm. However, in 2024, disaster struck while the family was on holiday abroad.
A fierce fire engulfed their property. Recalling the harrowing moment they found out, Fletcher described it as "the stuff of nightmares." He explained, "Our neighbour called us. She was in a panic, and the fire was roaring... We were in another country, and there was nothing we could do."
The family faced a long road to recovery, renting for a year while their farmhouse was made safe. The third series of their show documented the challenging rebuild. The finale captured a major milestone: the delivery of a new lodge, which Fletcher and Liz described as "the final step in getting us back living on the farm."
From child actor to soap icon, racing driver to Strictly champion, and now a farmer overcoming adversity, Kelvin Fletcher's career continues to be one of Britain's most fascinating transformations. Fletcher's Family Farm is available to stream on ITVX.
