Love Rat on Channel 5 is a brand new four-part psychological thriller, with a cracking cast led by Sally Lindsay.
Former Corrie actress Sally plays Emma, who dreams of a new start after her recent divorce. She escapes her dull life for a holiday in Cyprus, where she meets the very charming, handsome Niko.
Swept off her feet, Emma makes the huge decision to stay in Cyprus with Niko, and not return to the UK where her ex-husband, daughter, and grandchild remain.
However, if alarm bells weren’t already ringing loudly, they certainly become deafening when Niko reveals he needs a short-term loan of £200k to buy a luxury villa for them to live in.
No surprises when he vanishes with her money – and her self-esteem – and the romance turns to a psychological thriller. So who’s in the cast of Channel 5 series Love Rat? Here’s everything you need to know.
Love Rat Channel 5 cast: Sally Lindsay stars as Emma
Actress Sally Lindsay, 50, plays Love Rat victim Emma in the cast of the new Channel 5 psychological thriller. Of course, soap fans will probably know her best for playing Shelley Unwin in ITV’s Coronation Street. Her character was the daughter of Bev Unwin, who was portrayed by Susie Blake.
Sally played the role of Shelley from 2001 until 2006. After leaving Corrie, Sally went on to play Paula Appleton in the comedy sketch show Scallywagga, and Kathy in Ordinary Lies. From 2011 to 2014, she became a regular panelist on ITV’s Loose Women.
She played Alison Bailey in Scott & Bailey for five years, and Lisa Johnson in all 53 episodes of Mount Pleasant. Sally also appeared in Still Open All Hours as Kath Agnew.
More recently, Sally played Family Liason Officer Karen Bailey in Channel 5 thriller Intruder, Danica Trask in Midsomer Murders, and Jean White in The Madame Blanc Mysteries.
Sally co-hosted the popular game show Pointless alongside Alexander Armstrong for 11 episodes from September until October 2022.
Gerald Kyd portrays Niko
South African-born Gerald Kyd – aka Gerasimos Avvakoumides – stars as the titular Love Rat in the Channel 5 thriller.
TV viewers may know him best for playing senior house officer Sean Maddox in the BBC One medical drama Casualty. He played the role on and off between 1998 and 1999, before reprising the role by popular demand in 2006.
The half-Greek, half-Scottish actor, 50, went on to play Mark Renbe in the US series Persons Unknown, Yusef Hamed in Silent Witness, and Adrian Mullery in Unforgotten.
Other notable roles include Caiaphas in Jesus: His Life, Salabat Ali Khan in Harlots, and Scott Elias in Deep Water. Between 2016 and 2020, Gerald portrayed Roger Muir in the cast of ITV drama Cold Feet.
More recently, he played Robin Brunswick in Queens of Mystery, Gerry Ardwell in Sister Boniface Mysteries, and JJ Johnson in The Split. In 2023, he starred as Michael Roche in The Swarm, an ecological thriller. Gerald is also known for his theatre work, and his performances in films including Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Muse, and Tyger.
Love Rat Channel 5 cast: Neil Morrissey portrays Pete
Neil Morrissey, 61, portrays Emma’s ex-husband Pete in the cast of Channel 5 thriller Love Rat. He is arguably most famous for playing Tony Smart in BBC One‘s Men Behaving Badly. He joined the comedy in 1992 for series 2, replacing Harry Enfield’s character Dermot, who left after series one.
The actor played Gary’s womanising flatmate, who was infatuated with Deborah. Despite being well meaning, he had a habit of annoying everyone around him with his thoughtless comments and erratic behaviour. He also had musical ambitions which did not match his abilities!
Neil also played Boon’s sidekick Rocky Cassidy from 1987 to 1995, and led the cast of The Vanishing Man, Paradise Heights, The Eustace Bros, and then Barry in sitcom Carrie & Barry.
From 2007 to 2009, he portrayed Eddie Lawson in Waterloo Road, a show he later criticised. Despite being brave/foolish enough to launch a tirade at a big BBC show, he went on to work again. In 2012, he starred as Jason in Me and Mrs Jones.
Over the past decade, Neil has become known for more serious roles. He played Harry Palfrey in The Night Manager, Harding Redmond in Grantchester, and Vincent Pike in Striking Out.
Line of Duty fans will, of course, know him as super dodgy Nigel Morton in the drama about bent coppers. He has also starred as Pete Carr in Unforgotten, Colin in The Trial of Christine Keeler, and Luke Douglas in Penance.
More recently, Neil has played Frank in The Syndicate, Christopher Reasley in The Long Call, Greg McConnell in The Good Karma Hospital, and Martin Stone in Finders Keepers on Channel 5. Mum’s across the UK will also know that Neil was the voice of Bob the Builder for many years.
Ramon Tikaram plays George
Actor Ramon Tikaram, 56, portrays mysterious businessman George. And to tell you anymore would spoil things.
Ramon is perhaps most famous for playing This Life heartthrob Ferdy Garcia, a role he played from 1996 to 1997. A 10th-anniversary return of the show in 2006 was based on Ferdy’s funeral.
Between 2000 and 2002, Ramon played Prashant Dattani in football drama Dream Team, before going on to portray Mick Harper in Primeval, and Mr. Vong in My Spy Family.
The Singapore-born actor went on to portray Qadim Shah, father of Amira Shah, in EastEnders. He appeared on-screen on and off between 2009 to 2012.
Ramon also starred as Prendahl in Game of Thrones in 2013, and Inspector Victor Aziz in Pennyworth since it started in 2019. Other notable roles include Mr. Honey in Stella, Dom in Man Down, Praveen Badal in Happy Valley, and Tavani in Fortitude.
More recently, he’s starred as Uncle Varnya in The Great, Billy English in The Curse, and Terence McCann in Brassic.
Trivia: In 1997, Ramon was offered a role in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but refused because it would have meant cutting his hair! He’s also a singer, but perhaps not quite as well known for singing as his sister Tanita Tikaram. Tanita was a big hit in the 80s with songs including Twist in My Sobriety, and Good Tradition.
Love Rat Channel 5 cast: Imogen King stars as Susie
Manchester-born Imogen King, 27, portrays Emma’s daughter Susie in the cast of Love Rat on Channel 5.
She is perhaps best known for playing Abbie Armstrong in the cast of ITV drama The Bay. Abbie was the daughter of DC Lisa Armstrong, played by Morven Christie.
Imogen is also famous for playing Rayna in the 2018 second series of Clique on BBC Three.
More recently, Imogen had a main role as Melissa de Vere in the BritBox period drama Hotel Portofino. She also played murder victim Christina in the Channel 4 crime drama Suspect.
Other notable roles include Rosie Bess in Casualty, and Ruby in Moving On. Her impressive film roles include parts in Darkest Hour, The Watchman, and A Private War.
Love Rat Channel 5 cast: Louiza Patikas stars as Christina
Surrey-born actress Louiza Patikas, 47, stars as Christina in Love Rat on Channel 5.
Readers who listen to The Archers will recognise her voice as that of Helen Titchener in the BBC Radio 4 soap. She’s voiced Helen for 16 years, from 2008 to the present date.
Coronation Street fans will know Louiza for playing Moira Pollock on the ITV soap. She played the role on and off between 2017 and 2020. Moira was the manager of Rosamund Street Medical Centre and Liz McDonald’s boss when she worked there as receptionist.
Louiza appeared in the 2005 TV movie Planespotting, where she met her real-life husband Jonathan Aris. She’s voiced countless video games, including The Last Story, Dragon Age, and GoldenEye.
In 2017, she played Amy East in Unforgotten, and went on to portray Eleanor Ingram in Granchester.
Who else stars in the cast of Love Rat on Channel 5?
American actress Joanna Kalafatis plays hotel staff worker Maria. She’s played Nurse in the 2021 TV series Newton’s Cradle. Joanna also portrayed Goddess Athena in the mini-series The Quest.
Danish singer and actress Camilla Roholm portrays Freja. Camilla is best known for playing Amazon in the DC Comic adaptation Wonder Woman and its sequel. She also plays Clarissa Jones in the current Netflix hit The Gentlemen.
Rina Mahoney plays Claire. The Bay fans will know her for playing grieving mum Mariam Rahman in series 3. She also portrayed Julie in This England, Janet Ottinger in Wednesday, and Anisha Bhatti in Happy Valley.
Like Rina’s co-star Louiza Patikas, she’s also a star of The Archers. Rina voiced Jess Titchener/Myers until 2023. That same year, she starred as Zelda Gere in COBRA.
Love Rat starts on Monday, March 11, 2024 at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5 and continues every night this week until Thursday, March 14.
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