Sheffield was born in
Chelmsford,
Essex. The second son of Brenda (née Dare) and Barry Sheffield, he trained as a ballet dancer at the
Royal Ballet School, graduating into the
Royal Ballet, as well as dancing with
Northern Ballet Theatre. Roles with the Royal Ballet included Aria in
The Spirit of Fugue, Paris in
Romeo and Juliet, Benno in
Swan Lake, He in
My Brother, My Sisters, Wilfred in
Giselle, Rakitin in
A Month in the Country and Mouse King in
The Nutcracker. He appeared as a dancer in
Queen's music video for "
I Want to Break Free" in 1984, performing in a pastiche of the ballet ''
L'après-midi d'un faune''. However, his ballet career ended at the age of 27 due to a broken toe and torn ligament. In 1997, he appeared in the music video of "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia. Sheffield's breakthrough came when he starred in the
BBC medical drama series
Holby City, as heart surgeon Alex Adams from 2000 to 2003. He also played
Lancelot in the 1998 television drama
Merlin. He had a supporting role in the 2005 film
The Wedding Date alongside
Debra Messing and
Dermot Mulroney. Subsequently, he made a
cameo appearance in the final episode of
Green Wing. In 2005, he appeared in the British and Irish
Renault Clio advert "France vs. Britain," directed by
Ridley Scott's daughter Jordan Scott, who also directed the 2007 follow-up spot, "More Va Va Voom," again starring Sheffield as Ben, and French actress
Annelise Hesme as Sophie. He regularly featured on the BBC's
Holiday programme, in which he visited Mexico,
Egypt, Sichuan, South Africa and
Bermuda. In 2006, Sheffield travelled to South Africa, where eight celebrities competed to become rangers in a South African reserve, for the 2007 series of BBC2's
Safari School. In 2007, Sheffield made an appearance in
New Tricks. In January 2010, he took part in
ITV's
Dancing on Ice alongside professional skater
Susie Lipanova. He was the third person to be voted off (therefore finishing the contest in 12th place) after losing in the skate-off. In October 2011, it was announced that Sheffield would be joining
Coronation Street and would portray
Danny Stratton. Sheffield's
Coronation Street stay was only short, as he was part of a storyline that saw
Becky McDonald (
Katherine Kelly) depart. In October 2012, it was announced that he would be joining the cast of
Hollyoaks to portray
Patrick Blake, the biological father of twins
Sienna Blake (
Anna Passey) and
Dodger Savage (
Danny Mac). Sheffield left the cast in 2015, with Patrick's exit scenes airing in January 2016. He resumed the role for an episode in 2024. He rejoined the cast of
Hollyoaks in 2024, portraying
Jeremy Blake, the twin brother of Patrick Blake. ==Personal life==