Isle of Man's Joe Locke in running for National Television Award for Netflix series Heartstopper

Manx actor Joe Locke has been nominated for a National Television Award following his starring role in a major television hit show.

It is in the Rising Star category for his lead role as Charlie Spring in the hit series Heartstopper on Netflix.

The show has been nominated in the best New Drama category.

Joe's co-star Kit Connor, who plays Nick Nelson, is also in the running for the Rising Star award.

Both actors have also been nominated in the Drama Performance category.

'Heartstopper' tells the story of two British teenagers at an all-boys grammar school who are navigating young love when they realise their friendship may be something more.

18-year-old Joe, from Douglas, has described getting the role as "all his dreams coming true.' after being selected from thousands of teenagers.

He was chosen out of 10,000 other potential actors that were up for the role through an open casting call.

After Heartstopper launched on the streaming service in April, it developed a huge fan base and reached the Netflix top 10 list in 54 countries.

It was recently announced that the LGBTQ+ series, based on the popular graphic novels by Alice Oseman, has been renewed for seasons two and three.

The National Television Awards, are decided by a public vote and will be announced at a star studded ceremony in September at the OVO Arena Wembley in London, and will be broadcast on ITV.

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