Mellor first came to the public's attention in 1990, when he played Ben Rowlingson in the children's programme ''
Children's Ward. In 1992 he played Paul Howard in Brookside. In 1995, he joined the cast of the soap opera Hollyoaks and played James "Jambo" Bolton until 1998. He had a cameo as Jambo in a Christmas edition of Hollyoaks''. He released a cover of
Leo Sayer's "
When I Need You", which reached number 5 in the
UK Singles Chart, as well as a follow-up single called "No Matter What I Do", which reached number 23. Mellor starred as "Barmpot" in the postal worker drama
Sorted, and played DC Jed Griffiths in the second series of
Murder Investigation Team. In 2004, Mellor provided the voice for Georgie the dog in the CITV series
Barking!. He played Tom in the second series of
The Street. Mellor won the first series of the BBC singing contest
Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in 2003. He made his
EastEnders debut on 20 May 2007 playing womanising salesman
Warren Stamp. Mellor was a guest star in the
BBC fantasy drama
Merlin, playing the villain Valiant in the
series second episode of the same name. In October 2008, he starred in
The Prisoner, a documentary about prison life. Mellor portrayed Chris in the British horror
thriller film The Reeds. Mellor did a brief stint on children's television channel
CBeebies, in which he read books for the audience. In 2011, he starred in the
BBC Three comedy
White Van Man and the
BBC One drama
Waterloo Road. From 2011 to 2012, he played Liam Flynn in the
BBC One comedy series
In with the Flynns, as well as appearing in
White Van Man. Mellor had a guest role in the final episode of the
BBC Three comedy series
Mongrels. In 2013, he played Steve Connolly in the
ITV detective drama
Broadchurch. In 2014, he appeared on BBC One's Kay Mellor drama series
In the Club. In February 2021, it was announced that Mellor would join the cast of
Coronation Street as
Harvey Gaskell, with his first scenes airing in March. From 24 September 2022, Mellor competed in the
twentieth series of
Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer
Nancy Xu. The couple made it to the semi-finals, but were eliminated on 12 December 2022, finishing in fifth place. In 2024, he appeared as sub-postmaster Lee Castleton in the ITV drama
Mr Bates vs The Post Office, about the
British Post Office scandal. He later criticised the
Post Office CEO
Paula Vennells for a lack of "humanity" during the scandal. In May 2025, Mellor performed the song "
Bring Him Home" at Gorton Monastery, in aid of charity When You Wish Upon A Star. He released a recorded version as single, which debuted at number 18 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. == Personal life ==