Gurjeet Singh

Gurjeet Trojan Singh was born on 26 November 1994 in Manchester.^[1][2] He had a passion for acting since primary school and went on to study performing arts at college. He auditioned for a drama school and has stated he "got close" but did not get accepted.^[3] He got signed to an agent following his final college showcase and auditioned for roles with the National Theatre. They noticed his lack of professional training and declined him, advising him to train. Singh then trained with the Royal Exchange's Young Company, as well as joining NWTAC, a theatre group.^[4] Whilst working at a post office, he received a call from his agent, who informed him that the National Theatre wanted to invite him for an audition. He then made his professional acting debut in their 2015 production of Dara.^[3] Singh then appeared in the 2016 film 31st October.^[5] He then made various screen appearances, including an episode of Comedy Playhouse, the 2016 film 25 Kille and an episode of the BBC Three drama series Three Girls.^[3]

In 2017, Singh appeared in Goth Weekend at the Live Theatre Company, as well as starring in Hull Truck Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol.^[6] Later in 2017, Singh appeared in his first high-profile role when he was cast in the Channel 4 school drama series Ackley Bridge.^[7] He was cast as Naveed Haider, a gay Muslim student.^[8] At the time of his casting, Singh had left school years prior, and found it fun "putting on a school uniform again and becoming a mischievous student".^[3] His character was involved in a popular storyline that centred on the romantic developments between him and Cory Wilson (Sam Retford).^[9] Singh left his role as Naveed after the conclusion of the third series.^[10]

In 2019, whilst also filming for Ackley Bridge, he portrayed Tarig in the ITV1 crime drama series The Bay.^[11] He had auditioned for a different role but was not chosen, later receiving a call to instead play Tarig.^[3] Singh then returned to the stage. He portrayed Robbie Singh in a 2019 production of Hobson's Choice at the Royal Exchange Theatre, where he trained. The Manchester Evening News praised his comedic delivery in the play.^[12] A year later, he starred in Wuthering Heights, also at the Royal Exchange.^[13] Singh then portrayed Jamil in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in 2021,^[14] which went on to be a digitised film.^[15] Later in 2021

In 2021, Singh was cast in the Birmingham Repertory Theatre's production of East is East.^[16] Then in 2023, he starred in the Acorn TV mystery crime series Mrs Sidhu Investigates as Tez Sidhu.^[17][18] Singh also returned to the Royal Exchange that year for their production of No Pay? No Way!, in which he played Luigi.^[19] WhatsOnStage praised his chemistry with co-star Roger Morlidge.^[20] In 2024, he was made a board member of the Royal Exchange,^[2] as well as leading workshops for the company.^[4] He also portrayed Raheel in the Royal Court Theatre's production of Expendable.^[21][22] Later that year, he appeared in the recurring role of Virat Sengupta in the third series of the BritBox period drama Hotel Portofino.^[23]