Niamh Blackshaw

Niamh Kate Blackshaw (born 19 November 1998) is an English actress. She made her television debut in a Mr Kipling advert before joining the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2017) as Lara Cutler. She then played Juliet Nightingale in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2018–2023), for which she was nominated for Best Leading Performer at the 2023 British Soap Awards. Following her exit, she joined the cast of Waterloo Road (2025) as Agnes Eccleston.

Niamh Blackshaw
Blackshaw in 2023
Born	Niamh Kate Blackshaw (1998-11-19) 19 November 1998 (age 26) Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
Education	Canon Slade School University of Oxford
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2017–present
Television	Coronation Street Hollyoaks Waterloo Road
Partner	Angus Castle-Doughty (2022–present)

Early and personal life

Niamh Kate Blackshaw was born on 19 November 1998 in Bolton, Greater Manchester.^[1] Prior to studying acting, Blackshaw trained as a dancer, and at the age of eleven, she began attending Rossendale Dance and Drama Centre, where she completed her LAMDA and Trinity exams.^[1][2] She also attended Canon Slade School in Bolton, where she studied Latin for her A-Level exams, amongst other subjects. Blackshaw was interested in attending Cambridge University full-time, until she pursued acting as a career.^[3] However, she later began studying at the University of Oxford part-time, alongside acting.^[4]

She has been in a relationship with actor Angus Castle-Doughty since 2022.^[5][6]

Career

Blackshaw began her acting career appearing in television advertisements, including an advert for Mr Kipling.^[2] In 2017, she appeared in five episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Lara Cutler.^[7][8] Her character committed suicide after being groomed by Nathan Curtis (Christopher Harper) and his gang.^[9] In March 2018, she made an appearance in the short film Landline.^[10] On 4 September 2018, it was announced that she would be joining the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks as Juliet Nightingale, and she made her first appearance on 21 November 2018.^[11] Her storylines in the soap included discovering her father is Mac Nightingale (David Easter),^[12] being groomed into a county lines drug trafficking gang,^[13] coming out as a lesbian^[14] and developing a romance with Peri Lomax (Ruby O'Donnell).^[15] For her portrayal of Juliet, she has been nominated for Best Newcomer at the Inside Soap Awards and two nominations for Best Partnership alongside Lysette Anthony and O'Donnell,^[16] as well as being nominated for Best Leading Performer at the 2023 British Soap Awards.^[17]

After a cancer storyline was devised for her character, it was announced that Blackshaw would be leaving her role as Juliet in 2023, after five years on Hollyoaks.^[18] Following her exit, she was cast as Abi in the 2024 short film Hide. It was created by Ian Curtis, who had worked with Blackshaw on Hollyoaks. He wrote the character with her in mind and made the decision to donating 10% of the film's profits to Blackburn Food Bank, which Blackshaw's family help to run.^[19] Blackshaw then appeared in the BBC drama The Jetty, as well as being cast in the fifteenth series of Waterloo Road.^[20][21]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Coronation Street	Lara Cutler	5 episodes
2018	Landline	Daughter	Short film
2018–2023	Hollyoaks	Juliet Nightingale	Regular role
2023	SnapCatch	Holly	Short film
2024	Hide	Abi	Short film
2024	The Jetty	Rosie	2 episodes
2025	Waterloo Road	Agnes Eccleston	Main role

Awards and nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2019	Inside Soap Awards	Best Newcomer	Hollyoaks	Nominated	[22]
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Partnership (with Lysette Anthony)		Nominated	[22]
2021	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Partnership (with Ruby O'Donnell)		Nominated	[16]
2023	The British Soap Awards	Best Leading Performer		Nominated	[17]
	National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance		Nominated	[23]
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Partnership (with O'Donnell)		Nominated	[24]