Life and career
Essex was born in 1984 or 1985. [1] [2] [3] He is from Harrow, London. [4] Essex can sing and has been in the West End. [5] In 2014, Essex appeared in the video Mr Bowler Presents - Hideaway. [6] He has also been a backup dancer for Janet Jackson. [4] In 2012, Essex appeared in the ninth series of the British television music competition The X Factor , performing as part of the band "MITSOTU" (which stands for "Music Is The Soul Of The Universe") with James Collins and Holly Cooper. [4] [7] The group, who had previously performed in various London schools in 2011, did their first audition for the show in June 2012 in front of an audience of 6000 people and went through to the next stage of the show after scoring four "yes" votes. [4] All three members had "MITSOTU" tattooed on their left arms. [4] The group was unsuccessful in getting to the talent show's live finals, losing out to rival group MK1. [7] However, the band continued performing gigs at other venues, such as Kensington Roof Gardens. [7] Reflecting on the experience in 2017, Essex said, "It was such a fun time in my life and I did it with my two best friends, so I wouldn't have changed it. But I am glad that it ended where it did, because it's left the door open for other things and I think if it had gone any further, it probably would have stopped that from happening." [8] He added that he still likes to sing but could not imagine singing in public anymore. [8] Essex was also in the 2016 advertisements for Coca-Cola, which he had filmed in Madrid. [9]
In March 2016, it was announced that Essex joined the cast of the British soap opera Hollyoaks as Adam Donovan, who was introduced with his younger brothers Jesse (Luke Jerdy) and Liam Donovan (Maxim Baldry) as an extension of Grace Black's (Tamara Wall) family. [10] [11] Essex was thrilled to join the soap, saying, "Hollyoaks is already starting to feel like home. Adam has some amazing storylines coming up and I can't wait to share them with the fans. The Donovan brothers are definitely going to cause a stir!" [10] Essex, Baldry and Jerdy had auditioned together. [12] Essex' debut as Adam aired in April of that year. [3] [10] After his initial appearance, Essex's return to the soap aired on 13 June 2016. [13] Essex revealed that he felt very nervous when he first started on the soap, and Jerdy said that Essex was so nervous saying his lines during his first scenes that he was shaking, although he "got away with it" because it was cold. [14] [3] Essex later said that he became more comfortable working on the soap. [3] Jerdy and Wall have joked that Essex was the "worst" for giggling on set and would sometimes have to walk off set because of it. [15] [16] Essex felt like that the Donovan brothers had been received positively by Hollyoaks viewers. [8] The actor had been a fan of Hollyoaks and felt nervous meeting some of the cast as he knew them from watching the show. [17] Essex also enjoyed working with Lisa Maxwell, who plays the brothers' mother Tracey Donovan, and found it "bizarre" to work with her initially as he used to watch her on television, and Essex ended up getting to know her and went to her house. [8] [18] As his character was a hairdresser, Essex was given some lessons in the profession to help him with the portrayal. [18]
"I was so nervous, that I spent about a week learning [my lines] through and through. It was awful. I forgot how to walk. I was walking same arms and legs because I was that nervous. It was horrible".
One of Adam's storyline saw a love triangle between Adam, Maxine Minniver (Nikki Sanderson) and Darcy Wilde (Aisling Jarrett-Gavin). [19] [8] Essex wanted Maxine and Adam to get married as he described himself a "sucker for a wedding". [20] Essex enjoyed working with Jarrett-Gavin and revealed that the pair would spend time together out outside of work, adding that the pair got along "like a house on fire". [8] Essex and Jarrett-Gavin had also gone to the same school. [21] In 2018, Adam was involved in a storyline where his behaviour got darker and was involved in a mystery storyline where Adam was seen being told to shoot someone in a flash forward episode; Essex enjoyed portraying the villainous side to the character, but believed that Adam was doing bad things for the "right reasons in his mind". [22] [23] [24] The plot eventually led to Adam being fatally shot by his father Glenn Donovan (Bob Cryer) in the episode originally airing on 23 May 2018, which shocked and upset Hollyoaks viewers. [25] [26] [27] Reflecting on his departure in a video on Hollyoaks' YouTube channel, Essex thanked the Hollyoaks team and viewers for supporting him. [14] [26] Essex revealed that he had brought in doughnuts on his last day working on the soap. [14] He also described his Hollyoaks experience as "the best two and a half years ever". [14] Essex also said that he was very happy with his exit storyline, saying, "I think it's really, really shocking. I like the build-up to it - the good guy gone bad and then it turns back round, but then it's too late". [3] He also liked how it made Glenn's character "so evil". [3] [28] Adam's death was longlisted for "Best Exit" at the 2018 Inside Soap Awards. [29] [30] Sanderson revealed in 2019 that she still kept in touch with Essex and enjoyed working with him. [31]
In 2019, Essex had new headshots taken by photographer Rory Lewis. [6] Essex portrayed the role of Peter in the 2020 film A Dark Path. [6] [32] Essex was then part of the cast of the play GHBoy, which was due to be performed in December 2020 at Charing Cross Theatre. [33] [34] The play explored chemsex within the LGBTQ+ male community. [34] Essex portrayed Robert Finch, a character who is grieving the death of his father whilst dealing with substance abuse and infidelity. [34] [33] Essex said that the character's "innocence" and "vulnerability" drew him into the role, and said that he related to the character's "journey", adding, "I've made choices based on things that I’ve wanted, and not maybe looked at who that may be hurting". [34] Essex was happy to have the "challenge" of theatre, and said that he wanted to tell LGBTQ stories beyond the "coming out thing". [34] Essex also expressed frustration at the lack of support given by the government towards the theatre industry during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, saying, "I think [the arts have] been quite neglected, it's really been pushed aside and treated as a second-class job". [34] In 2025, Essex was part of the short film Daddy Issues. [35]