Emmerdales Bear star looks unrecognisable in forgotten role before ITV fame

Emmerdale’s Bear star Joshua Richards forced fans to do a double take after eagle-eyed viewers spotted him in his hidden role before ITV fame.

The beloved actor quickly became a fan-favourite when he joined the Dales back in 2019 as the bearded wrestler Bear Wolf.

Over the years, his character has received a lot of attention from loyal fans with one of his biggest storylines surrounding the confusion over whether or not he was Paddy Kirk’s biological father.

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But on Thursday (May 4), viewers could hardly believe their eyes after one eagle-eyed viewer spotted the soap star in a minor role during the start of his career.

The star was spotted in a supportive role in the 1990s TV series Heartbeat where he played the role of detective inspector Haggarty for several months.

Taking to Facebook, one user shared a snap of the actor sporting a much younger look without his signature beard as they confessed their disbelief.

They captioned the post: “I’m just watching Heartbeat and I’m sure this must be Bear from Emmerdale.”

Fans quickly flooded to the comments to confirm the actor in the unrecognisable snap, with one user writing: “It must be, he was just a Cub back then.”

Another agreed: “Knew I'd seen him somewhere before Emmerdale” as a third echoed: “I thought the same thing.”

What many fans may not know if that the actor has previously worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Brad Pitt and Hugh Grant.

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The actor previously shared the screen with the Fight Club star back in 2004 in the blockbuster film Troy.

He also starred alongside Hugh Grant in the Amazon Prime series A Very English Scandal which was loved by viewers up and down the country.

Joshua has also had roles in Downton Abbey and Panic Button as well as being a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company where he had roles in Henry IV part I and part II.

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