Celebrity Traitors favourite Nick Mohammed is swapping paranoia-filled roundtables for the comfort of a cushioned sofa as he teams up with fellow Faithful Joe Marler on Celebrity Gogglebox.
The duo were one of the breakout partnerships of the series, bonding instantly before their alliance spectacularly crumbled in the finale. In a now-infamous twist, Nick – alongside Faithful David Olusoga and Traitor Alan Carr – voted to banish Joe, wrongly convinced he’d been playing them all along. Joe, of course, was completely innocent, and the misstep helped pave the way for Alan to scoop the prize pot.
Despite the chaos, the friendship between Nick and Joe survived the fallout, and now they’re reuniting for this year’s Stand Up to Cancer special. This time, the only thing at stake is their remote-sharing etiquette.
With Nick back on our screens, we’ve taken a closer look at his impressive career – from Ted Lasso to his beloved Mr Swallow character – as well as the details of his home life, including his wife, kids and the famous faces he counts as friends.
How old is Nick Mohammed and where is he from?
Nick Mohammed is 45 years old. Full name Nicholas George Mohammed, he was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, to a Cyprus-born GP mother and a Trinidad-born father who worked in law.
Nick admitted he wasn’t sporty as a child but was “dragged” along to football matches at Leeds United. His passion instead was magic, receiving his first magic set aged four. And it’s ultimately what led him to a career in the performing arts.”I always enjoyed performing,” he said on the DISH podcast with Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw. “So I’d do that, and then as soon as I turned like sixteen I’d do like hotels, weddings and bar mitzvahs.”
Nick studied geophysics at Durham University and followed it up with a PhD in seismology at the University of Cambridge. He had intentions of becoming a geophysicist, with comedy always being “Plan B”. However, after successfully auditioning for the acting society Footlights at Cambridge, he switched career plans. “When I joined Footlights, it ignited an inner fire and made me dare to believe that a career in comedy might be possible,” he told the Observer.
Post-university, Nick then spent a decade doing shows at Edinburgh Fringe, appearing as his famous comedy character Mr Swallow.
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Why is Nick Mohammed called Mr Swallow?
Nick Mohammed has played a lot of characters, but his longest-running role is that of Mr Swallow. First conceived for an Edinburgh Fringe show, Nick has toured extensively as alter-ego Mr Swallow. He even appeared as him for a brief sketch, wearing roller skates, at last year’s BAFTA Film Awards ceremony.
“The character is based on a school teacher,” he revealed to The Guardian. “She had the same voice and more or less the same attitude as Mr Swallow. So it kind of started out about 25 years ago.”
Nick describes Mr Swallow as “northern, bombastic and a clueless megalomaniac”. As for the name, it comes from the fact that the teacher in question used to swallow a lot in between sentences.
The comedian has previously appeared as Mr Swallow on 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown, sitting alongside Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner.
He’s also toured the UK as Mr Swallow in a number of different stand-up shows include The Very Best & Worst of Mr. Swallow, Dracula, Houdini and A Christmas Carol-ish. All written, conceived by and starring Nick.
Nick Mohammed movies and TV shows: What else has he been in?
Nick Mohammed’s CV is packed with standout roles, but he’s undoubtedly best known for playing Nathan ‘Nate’ Shelley in Apple TV+ smash hit Ted Lasso.
Across all three seasons, Nick charted one of the show’s most compelling character journeys. From overlooked kit man to ‘Nate the Great’, then to full-blown villain when he defected to West Ham United, before completing a heartfelt redemption arc in season 3. His performance earned him back-to-back Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021 and 2022.
Beyond Richmond FC, Nick has kept busy on both sides of the Atlantic. He’s popped up in ITV’s Douglas Is Cancelled and Disney+ fantasy romp Renegade Nell, as well as sitcom staples Miranda, Fresh Meat, Stath Lets Flats and Mandy. He also co-created and starred in the Sky One comedy Intelligence.
Currently, he’s on our screens as London mayoral hopeful Zahar Jaffrey in Slow Horses season 5.
Nick’s film credits are equally varied, with roles in Bridget Jones’s Baby, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie and Prime Video comedy Deep Cover. He’s also lent his voice to a number of animated favourites, including Piglet in Christopher Robin and Dr Fry in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
And if that wasn’t enough, he appeared as himself in Inside No.9 last year and gave Taskmaster fans plenty to smile about when he competed in series 17, ultimately finishing in fifth place.
Are Nick Mohammed and David Schwimmer friends?
Yes, Nick Mohammed and Friends icon David Schwimmer are good friends, having worked together on Sky One comedy Intelligence.
The two first met in 2014 when Nick was working on a TV pilot for Channel 4 with Gavin and Stacey star Julia Davis. The show never aired but Nick and David stayed in touch after.
A huge Friends fan himself, Nick said it was exciting to first spend time with David.
“It was a thrill, and quite daunting to get to meet him and work with him,” he said in an interview with Radio Times. “But now, because we’ve worked together so solidly and consistently with Intelligence, we are just mates now, which is quite a strange thing.”
The two actors played mismatched co-workers who are thrown together at an intelligence and security organisation combatting cybercrime. Mohammed played rambling British tech analyst Joseph Harries while Schwimmer portrayed pompous American NSA agent Jerry Bernstein. Intelligence ran for two seasons on Sky One.
How tall is Nick Mohammed?
In an interview with The Skinny, Nick Mohammed confirmed that he is 164 cm tall. This equates to around 5 ft 5 inches.
Can Nick Mohammed play the Violin?
Yes, Nick Mohammed is musical like his wife and plays both the violin and the piano.
Nick showed off his violin skills in an episode of Ted Lasso, where his character Nate plays the instrument in a particularly poignant scene.
“I can’t remember what episode, episode 10, maybe season 3,” he recollected while on the Kelly Clarkson show. “There’s a bit where Nate goes back to his family home and finds his old violin and starts playing it. And Jason [Sudeikis] knew I played violin and sorted of wrote that in for me.
“So it was me playing and then my wife was actually accompanying, she was on piano in the background. It was really nice and sweet.”
Nick Mohammed’s wife and who is he married to?
Nick Mohammed has been married to Becka Mohammed for over a decade. She works as a music teacher and is the director of music at the school she works at.
“That’s how we met, we met through playing in the orchestra together at university,” he told Kelly Clarkson on her chat show in 2024. The two both attended Durham University and studied at St Aidan’s College.
Becka and Nick tied the knot back in 2014, with Nick taking to social media to confirm the news.
“Got married last weekend, this is my niece’s impression of the events,” he wrote on X with a picture, captioned: “WHAT IS GOING ON NEAR MY WIFE’S CROTCH?”
Nick credits his wife as being one of the funniest people in his life. According to him, she makes him laugh everyday and he even steals some of her jokes.
In June this year, he shared a “soppy” post on his Instagram admitting that he wouldn’t be able to have the career he loves if it wasn’t for her.
“It’s always worth reiterating that absolutely none of it would have been remotely possible without the endless and phenomenal support of @becka_mohammed. Practically, emotionally, hysterically! She is quite frankly a superhero.”
What are the names of his children?
Nick Mohammed is a devoted dad of three, sharing sons Finn and Arthur and daughter Annie with his wife, Becka.
He tends to keep his children well out of the public eye, but every so often he offers a small window into family life. Speaking to The Guardian in 2023, he admitted that parenthood hit them like a whirlwind.
“It’s mad, but wonderful. Like all new parents, we had zero clue,” he said. “My wife is a teacher, so we thought: ‘It won’t be that difficult.’ Obviously it was – and still is – exhausting.”
It’s a rare peek behind the curtain for someone who’s famously private, and a reminder that away from the characters and comedy, Nick is navigating the same joys and chaos of family life as everyone else.
Celebrity Gogglebox airs on Channel 4 on Friday, December 12th at 9.10pm as part of the Stand Up To Cancer special.
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