Roche: 'Emmerdale role not down to parents'

Jake Roche has hit back at claims that he was offered a role in Emmerdale because of who his parents are.

The actor, who is the son of Coleen Nolan and Shane Richie, admitted that he knew he would face the claims after joining the ITV soap earlier this month.

"Of course people are going to say I got the job because of my parents," he told The Mirror. "It's an easy way to have a dig at me."

He continued: "But for one, I didn't use their last names Nolan or Richie. I went with my own name Jake Roche - dad's name before he changed it to Richie."

Loose Women panellist Nolan previously insisted that Roche had always dreamed of being an actor.

Roche explained: "When I was auditioning they didn't know who my parents were and I'd also ­auditioned twice before so they obviously didn't care about that or they wouldn't have turned me down!

"I went to theatre school for two years and I learned a lot there. I'd never go off mum and dad's back because I wanted to know I could hold my own in a job like this."

He admitted that some of the cast had confessed their initial fears when they heard that he was joining the show.

"People in the cast have been really honest with me," he said. “They told me they'd been worried about me, that I might be rubbish and only got the job because of who my dad is.

"But since I've started a few have said, 'You've really proved yourself'. It's so nice to hear and it felt dead encouraging."

He added: "James Thornton, who plays John Barton, said to me, 'You're doing really well and we're very impressed'. Thank God - I was scared in case everyone thought I was rubbish!"

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