BBC One’s The Syndicate is back for its fourth season tonight- and part of it was filmed in Bradford and other parts of West Yorkshire.

The Syndicate, written by Bafta-winning screenwriter Kay Mellor, follows a group of kennel workers who think they’ve won the lottery - but all is not as it seems and the young syndicate find themselves on the wealthy French Riviera.

The series has a star-studded cast, with the likes of Gaynor Faye and Neil Morrissey starring in the series.

(Twitter/ @BBCTheSyndicate)

However, another notable addition to this year’s series is the multi-facetted Joe Sugg.

Joe is playing Yorkshire man Sam, the boyfriend of Roxy (Taj Atwal) in the show.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Joe (@joe_sugg)

(Instagram/ @joe_sugg)

His appearance in the show sparked a debate on Loose Women yesterday (29 March) with the panel discussing whether Wiltshire-born Sugg should have been cast in the role of a northerner.

Denise Walsh defended Sugg in the role and said: “I’ve played Southerners in things and I think I do quite a good Southern accent.

“If Joe is good in his part then I think, absolutely fine. ‘We’re gonna go too far with this. The whole point of this is that we’re actors.’

Speaking to the national press, Sugg said he was worried about putting on a Northern accent.

He said: “I’ve got a lot of fans that are from the north, so I was worried about doing a stereotypical northern voice.

“So I’ve already cemented something saying, ‘Look guys, my character’s backstory was he was born in the north, but he spent a lot of time in the south.’ I want everyone to know that beforehand.’

Joe Sugg’s career before The Syndicate

YouTube

If you don’t immediately recognise Joe Sugg, it’s likely that your teenage children will know him immediately.

He is a social media influencer with a combined Twitter and Instagram following of more than 10.3 million followers on Instagram.

Before embarking into the world of media and acting, Sugg made his name on YouTube.

He started his channel, Thatcher Joe, in 2012 and has since amassed 7.7 million followers and has become one of the most influential faces on the UK YouTube scene.

The most viewed video on his channel is ‘Singing Impressions with Conor Maynard’ which has 23 million views at the time of writing.

(YouTube/ThatcherJoe)

However, his prank videos have also performed well on this channel and ‘Ultimate Roomate Revenge Pranks’ has received 17 million views so far.

He also has a vlog and gaming channel, which have 3.47 million and 1.71 million subscribers respectively.

Joe has created many videos with his sister, Zoe Sugg, who has also amassed a huge following across social sites.

Graphic Novels

Joe has also ventured into the world of literature, and currently has three sci-fi/fantasy graphic novels in the ‘Username’ franchise.

(Twitter/@Joe_Sugg)

Username: Evie, Username: Uprising and Username: Regenerated were all published between 2015-2016.

Early movies and TV show

Alongside fellow social media star Caspar Lee, Sugg appeared in the direct-to-DVD film Joe and Caspar Hit the Road (2015) and Joe and Caspar Hit the Road USA (2016).

(Twitter/@Joe_Sugg)

The comedy/documentary sees the duo embarking on a road trip around Europe and the USA.

In 2015, Sugg also made an uncredited voice over cameo as a seagull in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water.

Sugg also starred in the ITV game show, Release the Hounds, alongside influences Alife Deyes and Marcus Butler which aired in 2017.

He taught his thatching trade to the royals

Before embarking on a life in social media, Joe Sugg was a trained roof thatcher.


In 2018, Sugg met the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

He even taught them the basics of roof thatching and the royal couple tried their hand at it.

(Twitter/@ClarenceHouse)

Speaking at the time, Sugg said: “I grew up near Camilla, near one of her houses, and my job was thatching roofs.

“She used to walk past with her dogs and say hello, and she remembered that, which was really nice.”

Strictly Come Dancing

Sugg’s television career really started to blossom when he appeared on the 2018 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

It helped to bring the YouTube world into the mainstream and Sugg was one of the first social media star to appear on the show.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell (Aaron Chown/PA)Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell (Aaron Chown/PA)

Dancing with professional, Dianne Buswell, the pair jived and twirled their way to the final but lost out to journalist and presenter, Stacey Dooley.

While he didn’t leave with the glitterball trophy, he did exit the show with Buswell as his romantic partner.

Joe was also part of the Strictly Come Dancing Live! tour between January and February 2019.

Sugg also participated in the 2019 Christmas special episode and danced to 'Sleigh Ride' by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish.  

Waitress: The Musical

(Instagram/@Joe_Sugg)

Not long after his stint on Strictly, Joe Sugg starred as Ogie Anhorn in the West End musical, The Waitress.  

(Twitter/ @WaitressUK)

The musical tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a baker and waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband.

The show’s music and lyrics are written by Sara Bareilles and based on a book by Jessie Nelson and Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 film.


The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off

(Instagram/@joe_sugg)

If you are a fan of BBC’s The Great British Bake Off, you might have spotted Sugg in the Stand Up To Cancer spin off.

The episode also featured James Blunt, Alison Hammond and Alex Jones.

In the show, the celeb participants tackled traybacked and biscuits- and Sugg even went on to be crowned ‘star baker’.

However, his victory wasn’t the subject of that day’s newspaper headlines.

On the show, Sugg fainted just a few minutes into the celebrity special.

Speaking in a YouTube video explaining the fainting incident, Sugg said: "I actually won something, but annoyingly it was completely overshadowed by the fact that within a minute of baking the first bake of the day, I cut my finger and fainted.

"So there I was [at] 7am cracking on with my first bake and I was exhausted… even before I fainted I looked like I was going to faint. I was a shell of a man.

"The peeler that I have at home must be the world's most blunt peeler, this thing was razor sharp… I was peeling this big cooking apple and the razor slips.

"It cuts me and… I want to stress this, I've cut myself cooking before and I've never fainted, I get nose bleeds all the time, blood does not make me squeamish, cuts don't make me squeamish.

"What it was, was [the cut] went diagonal, it went through my finger and deep through my nail. Things that freak me out is when I bite my nails too far back or I cut a nail, which makes it sound even worse."

He added: "It's not the cut that made me faint, it was that I broke my nail."

Joe Sugg will be back on our screens on BBC One’s The Syndicate; The first episodes airs at 9pm tonight (30 March).