Emmerdale’s Bradley Riches has announced his car and coffee truck were stolen, and his house burgled, while he attended the premiere of the new Heartstopper movie.
Riches, who plays Lewis Barton on the ITV soap and lovestruck teenager James on Heartstopper, posted a selfie to his Instagram showing him with tears in his eyes, as he revealed the incident in question.
“This week started so perfectly,” he wrote. “I got back from the Heartstopper premiere after having the best time… only to come home and find out I’d been robbed. My car is gone, but what breaks my heart the most is that my coffee truck has been taken too.”
Riches had launched Bradley’s Bar & Cafe in May, posting that he and his husband Scott Johnson-Riches would be selling coffee from their special food truck every Saturday at the New Inn Eccup, a pub located near where Emmerdale is filmed.
Riches wrote that he is “absolutely heartbroken”, adding: “To the person who took them, I hope you have a really bad day.”
More details on the theft were published on the Bradley’s Bar & Cafe Instagram page, with Riches writing that police are investigating.
“After everything we’ve put into building our little business, it’s incredibly upsetting to see it taken away like this,” he wrote. “The theft has been reported to the police, who have been fantastic, but unfortunately they’ve been unable to locate either vehicle at its last known location. We’re asking everyone in the Leeds and Bradford area to please keep an eye out.
“Even the smallest piece of information could make a huge difference. If you think you’ve seen the trailer, the car, or anything that you think might be connected, please send us a private message as soon as possible. We’d be so grateful.”
The bio for the food truck has also been updated to read “currently stolen”.
Riches was appearing at the premiere of the new Netflix film Heartstopper Forever when the theft occurred. The movie, which launches on Netflix today (17 July) serves as the finale to the hit coming-of-age series starring Kit O’Connor and Joe Locke as teenagers in love.
Riches, 24, began his career in musical theatre, before joining the cast of Heartstopper in 2022 and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2024, where he finished in sixth place.
On Emmerdale he plays the long-lost son of Gillian Kearney’s Emma Barton. Like Riches himself, his character has autism. Riches has published two books about neurodivergence – 2023’s “A” Different Kind Of Superpower, a children’s book about growing up with autism, as well as this year’s Autistically Me: How to Understand and Celebrate Our Unique Minds.
In it he writes about being non-verbal until the age of nine, and his diagnosis with autism at the age of 10.