Jason Manford will be making his debut in Waterloo Road as headteacher Steve Savage, but away from the show, he is also an award-winning comedian and family man.
Growing up in Manchester, Jason was inspired to do comedy by the likes of Peter Kay and Johnny Vegas. As his comedy career blossomed, Jason also entered the world of TV, becoming a regular face on comedy panel shows and BBC dramas, as well as starting a stage career.
Away from his career, Jason is also a family man, having welcomed six children and walking down the aisle twice. And it appears fame runs in his family, as two of the comedian's brothers have also entered the world of showbusiness.
Discover all you need to know about Jason's life below…
Wives and children
Jason first found love with his first wife Catherine, with the couple marrying in October 2007. During their marriage, Jason and Catherine welcomed four children: twin daughters in 2009, a daughter in 2010 and a son in 2012.
In 2013, Jason and Catherine separated. Jason has been open about the part he played in his marriage ending, telling the Mirror in 2021: "My first marriage really disintegrated on my theory of, 'I don't want my children to have the childhood I had'.
© Instagram"So I was out working all the time and I didn't put the care and time into that relationship [with Catherine] that it deserved and needed. It's only now I'm starting to realise, 'Oh, I'm not giving the children the childhood I had', which is good in one thing but bad in another."
Jason would go on to find love again, marrying TV producer Lucy Dyke in 2017, and the pair have since welcomed two children together.
© Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/ShutterstockDue to the young ages of his children, Jason typically keeps them out of the spotlight and blurs their faces when they appear on his social media feed. In one particularly sweet post shared on Father's Day, the dad-of-six was surrounded by his brood.
"A lovely Father's Day," he shared in his caption. "Recording radio show first thing, had pancakes and Nutella! Lots of cards and cuddles. Last of Us 2 on PS4 (& a promise of a day off chores this week to actually play it!)."
© InstagramSpeaking about his large family, Jason said: "It's a lot, it has its difficult moments like any family but at the end of the day there's more love to go around. We get by and we've got a lot of help, my parents live nearby, my ex-wife, my wife, everybody pitches in and makes sure it works and it does for the most part."
Famous brothers
Jason isn't the only person in his family who opted to follow a career in showbusiness, with two of his brothers also making names for themselves.
The star's younger brother, Colin, is also a talented comedian who often tours on the northern comedy circuits. However, Colin has also taken his comedy all across Europe and has performed in Romania, Slovenia, Croatia and Malta.
© InstagramJason's brother Stephen, meanwhile, is a talented magician and goes by the stage name of Stephen Mandini. The star has won numerous awards for his magic tricks and he's also a talented balloon artist.
© InstagramJason's third brother, Niall, might not be famous, but he's incredibly generous, and on Facebook, Jason revealed that his younger brother was heading to Borneo for charity reasons.
