Jonny Labey
Labey in 2016
Born (1993-01-15) 15 January 1993 (age 30)
Jersey, Channel Islands
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present
TelevisionEastEnders (2015–2016)

Jonny Labey (born 15 January 1993) is a British actor, known for portraying the role of Paul Coker on the BBC soap opera EastEnders.[1]

Early life

Labey is from Grouville, Jersey. He attended Grouville School and Victoria College.[2] He began dancing aged 5 and appeared in his first stage show aged 8 as part of the Jersey Amateur Dramatic Club.[3] In 2011, he left Jersey to take a BA course at the Doreen Bird College of Performance in Sidcup, London,[2] graduating in 2014. His cousin is fellow actor Philip Labey, known for starring as "Acorn" in various television advertisements for Oak Furnitureland alongside Stephen Critchlow in the mid-2010s.[3]

Career

After graduating, Labey appeared in stage shows including In the Heights and White Christmas. He appeared in Leon Lopez's film Soft Lad.[3] Labey joined the cast of EastEnders in 2015, in the role of Paul Coker, the grandson of Les Coker (Roger Sloman) and Pam Coker (Lin Blakley).[4] The character falls in love with Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid), but was later killed off in a homophobic attack.[5] Labey appeared in EastEnders between 1 June 2015 and 8 September 2016, appearing in 106 episodes. His first role after leaving EastEnders was as the lead character, Rupert Brooke, in the play Verge of Strife, staged in Edinburgh in August 2016.[6] In 2017, he was a contestant on ITV's Dance Dance Dance.

In October 2019, he began competing in The X Factor: Celebrity.[7] He was given a safe seat along with Jenny Ryan and Try Star in week 1, but was eliminated in week 2 after landing in the bottom 2 with Martin Bashir as the result went to deadlock. He finished in tenth place. In 2022, he portrayed Jamie Renton in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors.[8]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Soft Lad David Film
2015–2016 EastEnders Paul Coker Series regular; 106 episodes
2015 Children in Need Himself Performed in "EastEnders Does Top Hat" medley
2017 Dance Dance Dance Himself Winner (First of the series)
2017 Taking The Next Step Judge CBBC talent show
2019 The X Factor: Celebrity Himself Contestant
2022 Doctors Jamie Renton Episode: "Ancient History"
2022 Dare To Dream Theo Short film
2022 Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators Toby Philkes Episode: "If Music Be the Food of Love"

Discography

Singles

As featured artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[9] 		SCO
[10]
"Run"
(as part of The X Factor Celebrities 2019) 		2019 87 3 Non-album single

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2015 Inside Soap Awards Best Affair (shared with Harry Reid) Nominated [11]
2015 Digital Spy Reader Awards Best Newcomer Second [12]
2016 Inside Soap Awards Best Partnership (shared with Reid) Nominated [13]

References

  1. ^ "Jonny Labey joins EastEnders as Paul Coker". BBC. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b "'He's one of the family!' – Champagne corks pop in Grouville as Jonny Labey makes his EastEnders debut". Jersey Evening Post. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Jerseyman joining the cast of EastEnders". Jersey Evening Post. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  4. ^ Brown, David (24 May 2015). "EastEnders: Ben Mitchell gets up close and personal with newcomer Paul Coker". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  5. ^ Welsh, Daniel (22 July 2016). "EastEnders' Viewers React As Paul Coker's Death Revealed To Be Result Of Homophobic Attack". HuffPost. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  6. ^ Brown, David (19 April 2016). "EastEnders spoilers: Jonny Labey to leave Paul Coker role". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  7. ^ Duke, Simon (12 October 2019). "When is X Factor: Celebrity on? ITV show returns with star lineup". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  8. ^ Timblick, Simon. "'Doctors' spoilers: WHY is Zara Carmichael on the warpath?". What to Watch. (Future plc). Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  9. ^ "X Factor Celebrities 2019 | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  10. ^ Peak positions for singles in Scotland:
  11. ^ Dainty, Sophie (14 July 2015). "Inside Soap Awards 2015 longlist revealed: Who's in line for Best Actor, Actress and Newcomer?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  12. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (25 December 2015). "Your soap winners of 2015: Emmerdale, EastEnders whodunit and Hollyoaks classroom clinch". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  13. ^ Sandwell, Ian (21 June 2016). "Inside Soap Awards 2016 longlist revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 June 2016.

External links

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