Outlander star John Bell has been behind Jamie Fraser’s nephew Young Ian since the drama began but what is there to know about the star?
The last time the Starz drama was seen, Young Ian’s (played by John Bell) rival Arch Bug (Hugh Ross) found out that he had a new love interest in Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small).
And, following the accidental death of his first wife, Arch Bug is eager to get his revenge but will Young Ian be able to stop him before it’s too late?
Now, with the time-travelling romantic drama back on the small screen, fans are curious to know all there is about Scottish actor John Bell.
Blue Peter competition
John was just eight-years-old when he made his onscreen TV debut after winning a competition on the children’s TV show Blue Peter.
It was during his appearance in the 2007 episode of Doctor Who called Utopia as a character called Crete that he realised his love for acting.
Speaking to Digital Spy, he explained: “I won a Blue Peter competition and got a role in Doctor Who.
“I have got two Blue Peter badges, I was eight-years-old. I hadn’t acted before, that was my first foray into the business, so to have Doctor Who as your first gig and to be a Blue Peter competition winner was awesome.
“And it was the best Doctor, of course, Mr David Tennant. I was doing drama classes but I entered the competition totally for fun, I sent it away and didn’t think about it and then it actually happened!
“It was filmed and turned into a Blue Peter special so it is always memorialised, I can always look back on that time as when it all started so it is very special. I caught the bug on set – I started on TV and it was my first love.”
Nearly giving up
Following his time on Doctor Who, John went on to appear in Life Of Riley, Hattie, Tracy Beaker Returns, Wrath Of The Titans and The Hobbit franchise.
There was a time, however, that John considered getting out of showbusiness altogether.
He told Time And Leisure: “I was quite busy throughout my childhood. I worked pretty consecutively. But there was a period when I was about 16 when I didn’t get any jobs. I was like, what is going on? Am I bad? What’s happened?’”
It was at this point thought that the Young Ian star landed the role of Young Ian in Outlander.
He added: “Being able to grow up on screen has been the biggest gift that Outlander has given me. It’s allowed people to see what I look like now, and who I am now, and what I can bring to a character now.”
Sexuality
While John is openly gay, he did feel pressure as a teenager when it came to his sexuality.
He told Pink News: “I still had moments of ‘pray the gay away’ and not wanting to be gay. Those thoughts sort of seep into your head at bedtime when you’re on your own.
“Obviously there’s still something there that was telling me this isn’t normal and this is wrong, but that very quickly was squashed by the experiences in the film industry as I continued working.
“I kind of went, ‘Oh, I’m just like him and that’s amazing. He’s really cool. He’s really happy. It isn’t wrong. It isn’t bad. I think my parents will be cool with it.’ But there was still a journey.”
What’s next
There’s still the rest of series seven as well as the eighth and final season of Outlander to look forward to but John has already started working on another project.
According to his IMDb page, the Scottish star will feature in the drama The Man In The Box. Alongside John, The Man In The Box, which is now in production, will star After’s Hero Fiennes Tiffin, FBI: International’s Christina Wolfe and Putin’s Thomas Kretschmann.
Outlander is available to watch on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK and Starz in the US.