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Adam Thomas

English actor (born 1988)

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Adam Gordon Thomas (born 11 August 1988) is an English actor, known for his roles as Donte Charles in Waterloo Road (2006-2009, 2023-present) and Adam Barton in Emmerdale (2009-2018). He was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2016 and Strictly Come Dancing in 2023. He also won the second series of I'm a Celebrity... South Africa in 2026.

01Early life

Adam Gordon Thomas was born on 11 August 1988 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.

02Career

Thomas began his television career in 2002 with a guest appearance on the BBC daytime soap opera Doctors. From 2006 to 2009, Thomas played Donte Charles in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road from series 1 until series 4. The role of Donte led Thomas to enjoy guest appearances in popular hospital drama Casualty in 2008 in which he played a boxer, as well as a second appearance in Doctors in 2007. He also appeared as himself on ITV gameshow All Star Family Fortunes alongside his older brother and fellow actor Ryan, who played Jason Grimshaw in the soap opera, Coronation Street.

Following his departure from Waterloo Road in 2009, Thomas signed on for his third appearance on daytime soap Doctors, this time playing a character called Ben Hamilton. The episode aired on 26 May 2009. It was announced on 21 May 2009 that Thomas had landed the role of Adam Barton in the long-running ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, and would appear on screens from July 2009. Thomas left Emmerdale in early 2018.

In 2016, Thomas was a contestant on the sixteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and finished in third place. He became a property executive for the Kamani Property Group in 2018 alongside former Emmerdale co-star Marc Silcock. He also made his stage debut in 2018 when he appeared as The Hollywood Producer in Nativity! The Musical. In February 2019, he portrayed the role of Rob in an episode of the BBC drama Moving On. On 19 October 2019, it was announced that Thomas would be co-hosting I'm a Celebrity: Extra Camp. In September 2019, Thomas opened a bar/restaurant with his school friend, Scott Graham. The restaurant, named The Spinn, was situated in Gatley, Stockport, but it later closed. Thomas's historic and publicly documented alcoholism led to him resigning as director of the limited company as early as mid-2022.

In late 2021, it was announced that Thomas was returning to the role of Donte Charles in recommissioned return of Waterloo Road for the first time since 2015, and marks his first appearance on Waterloo Road in nearly 14 years. In August 2023, Thomas was announced as one of the contestants on the twenty-first series of Strictly Come Dancing. He exited the competition in week 7, (4 November) with his professional dance partner, Luba Mushtuk. This followed their dance off against Angela Rippon and her professional dance partner Kai Widdrington.

In 2025, he and his older brother Ryan hosted ITV1 game show 99 to Beat.

In April 2026, Thomas won series 2 of I'm a Celebrity... South Africa.

03Personal life

Thomas is the younger brother of Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas, and older brother of non-identical twin Love Island star Scott Thomas.

He is of English, Indian and Caribbean ancestry. His paternal grandfather is from Mumbai, India, and emigrated to Manchester, England, in 1947. His paternal great-grandmother was a West Indian who had Caribbean ancestry.

Thomas and his long‑term girlfriend, Caroline Daly, have two children, a son and a daughter.

Thomas and Daly took part in All Star Mr & Mrs in August 2016.

In August 2020, Thomas admitted that he and his twin have a drinking problem; he vowed to get sober like his brother who celebrated six months of sobriety at the time.

04Filmography

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2002 Doctors Declan 1 Episode: "Losing Control"
2004 Casualty Jamie Ridderford 1 Episode: "Love Bites"
2006-2009, 2023-present
Waterloo Road Donte Charles 105 episodes
2007 Doctors Rohan Jameson 1 Episode: "Growing Pains"
2008 Casualty Jake Shepherd 1 Episode: "To Thine Own Self Be True"
Rock On Troglodyte Man In Distress 1 Episode: "Trog In Bognor Regis"
2009 Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow Audience Member 1 Episode
Doctors Ben Hamilton 1 Episode: "Hamilton Is Out"
2009-2018 Emmerdale Adam Barton 971 episodes
2014 All Star Family Fortunes Self 1 Episode
2016 Lorraine Self 4 December 2016
This Morning 1 December 2016
Good Morning Britain 1 episode
2016 I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Contestant Series 16
2018 Lorraine Self 25 October 2018
2019 Moving On Rob 1 episode: "By Any Other Name"
Pitching In Jase Main role
I'm a Celebrity: Extra Camp Presenter
2020 Lorraine Self 20th May 2020
Don't Rock The Boat Contestant
2021 The Chase Celebrity Special Contestant
2022 Britain's Foulest Smells Self
Royal Television Society Presenter North West
2023 Strictly Come Dancing Contestant Series 21
2025 99 to Beat Co-presenter With Ryan Thomas
You Bet! Panellist
2026 I'm a Celebrity...South Africa Winner Series 2

05Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Nativity! The Musical The Hollywood Producer Liverpool Empire Theatre

Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

06Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2010 TV Choice Awards Best Soap Newcomer Emmerdale Won
2011 Inside Soap Awards Sexiest Male Emmerdale Nominated
2013 Inside Soap Awards Sexiest Male Emmerdale Shortlisted
2023 Inside Soap Awards Best Drama Star Waterloo Road Nominated
Watch videos about Adam ThomasExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Adam Thomas, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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