Prior to
Hollyoaks, Sutton had roles in the
Dream Team spin-off
Dream Team 80s, playing Terry Glover, and in
Lynda La Plante's
Trial and Retribution X, playing a character called Barry Milne. In September 2006 he joined the cast of
Hollyoaks as
John Paul McQueen. During this portrayal, his character came out as being gay and started having an affair with his best friend,
Craig Dean. The storyline was nominated for, and won, many awards. He left the soap on-screen in September 2008. In Sutton's first post-
Hollyoaks role, he guest starred as Eli Taylor who suffered from
narcolepsy and
cataplexy on the BBC series
Casualty, in the episode titled 'Doing The Right Thing' which aired 13 December 2008. On 23 March 2009, it was announced that Sutton would join the cast of ITV1's
Emmerdale. Sutton played the role of mechanic Ryan Daniel Lamb, son of newcomer Faye Lamb and already established character Mark Wylde. Ryan's first appearance was on 15 June 2009. On 8 February 2011, it was announced that Sutton would leave
Emmerdale after approximately two years in the show. His last day on the show was 18 March 2011. His last episode was aired on Tuesday 26 April 2011. In 2011 he took on the role of
Orsino from
Twelfth Night in the BBC Learning project "Off By Heart Shakespeare" and delivered the speech "If music be the food of love, play on". Sutton made a brief appearance in the second series of
Bedlam on
Sky Living together with Lacey Turner (
EastEnders) in Spring 2012. His character was a paramedic called Andy. Sutton made two guest appearances in episodes of the
BBC1 series
Doctors on Friday 9 March 2012 "Firestarter" and Monday 8 January 2019 “The Affair”. He also made a guest appearances in the second series of the hit
ITV1 drama series
Scott & Bailey which returned to the screens on Monday 12 March 2012 and
Holby City on BBC1. His return to Hollyoaks was announced on
Digital Spy on 12 October 2012, with the character of Jean Paul returning to the show on 18 December 2012., before leaving the show in 2017. In May 2012, he announced on Twitter that he had a new company, Broken Leg Workshops, which runs pop-up workshops for new actors offering help and advice of the kind he wished he had received when he first entered the business. The first workshop was held in Liverpool, followed by Manchester and Leeds. Sutton met playwright Ian Salmon through
The Anfield Wrap and this led to Sutton appearing in Salmon's play
Venus Rising at the Hope Street Theatre in
Liverpool in 2018. In July 2019, Sutton reprised his role as Jean Paul in
Hollyoaks In April 2026, Sutton announced that he had joined
OnlyFans. ==Personal life==