John Partridge

John is a British actor, singer, presenter and writer.

John initially trained in ballet at the Royal Ballet School and went on to train in musical theatre at the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts and Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts.

At the age of 16, John left college to join the cast of the original UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats. He went on to join the West End production of the show at the New London Theatre, to star as Rum Tum Tugger. John was subsequently asked to play the role in the official film of the show, opposite Elaine Paige and John Mills.

Other West End credits include: Zach in the London revival of A Chorus Line (London Palladium); Robert Martin in The Drowsy Chaperone (Novello Theatre); Gringoire in Notre-Dame de Paris (Dominion Theatre); The Fix (Donmar Warehouse) directed by Sam Mendes; Hawker/Captain Walker in Tommy (Shaftesbury Theatre); Grease (Dominion Theatre); Electra in Starlight Express (Apollo Victoria Theatre); and The Butcher in The Hunting of the Snark (Prince Edward Theatre), Taboo 20th Anniversary Concert (London Palladium) and Daryl Van Horne in The Witches of Eastwick in Concert (Sondheim Theatre).

John most recently toured the UK as The Emcee in the Rufus Norris production of Cabaret. Prior to that he played Buddy in The View Upstairs (Soho Theatre). Turai in Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing (UK Tour); and Chief Superintendent Tanner in The Case of the Frightened Lady; after having starred as Albin, who moonlights as star drag act Zaza, in a brand new version of La Cage Aux Folles. He played Billy Flynn in Chicago the Musical (National Tour); Prospero in The Tempest (Northcott Theatre); John in Miss Saigon (National Tour); Roger in the European tour of Rent; appeared in Black Goes With Everything (Churchill Theatre, Bromley); and Marilyn in Boy George’s musical Taboo (The Venue).

Screen includes: Felipe in Involuntary Activist (Iris Prize/BBC); and the long-running and much-loved role of Christian Clarke in EastEnders (BBC, 2007-2016).

A well-known TV personality, John was crowned Winner of Celebrity MasterChef (BBC); bared all on The Real Full Monty (ITV); was a judge on Taking The Next Step (CBBC); competed in Battlechefs with Marco Pierre White (Watch) and gymnastics show Tumble (BBC). John was a celeb judge on the hugely successful Over the Rainbow (BBC); regular guest host of The National Lottery Draws (BBC); and is frequent guest contributor on Jeremy Vine (Channel 5).
John has worked with several rock and pop acts, including: U2, Pet Shop Boys, Kim Wilde, Neneh Cherry, Pete Townshend, Mica Paris and Ultra Naté.
In 2009, John won the Inside Soap Award for the Sexiest Male and, in 2010, he was awarded the Entertainer of the Year Award at the annual Stonewall Awards ceremony.

In 2013, John performed his first live one-man show Dames ‘n’ Dudes at The Matcham Room, Hippodrome. Following its success, John released Dames, Dudes + Cowboys Too, his debut album featuring original songs alongside classic covers.

In 2018, he premiered his all-new live show John Partridge: Stripped at The Other Palace Studio. Following its success, he revived the show in August 2018 at Assembly Checkpoint, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, returning back to London for a final performance at The Pleasance.

Following his Celebrity MasterChef win, 2020 saw the release of his debut book, There’s No Place Like Home.