Young actor Jude Riordan has been winning all the applause for his emotional performances on Coronation Street this week as the soap's Sam Blakeman.
In tear-jerking scenes, Sam has been tragically caught up in the dramatic aftermath of Corrie 's Super Soap Week.
Evil drug dealer Harvey Gaskell accidentally shot Sam's mum Natasha in a case of mistaken identity in the "deadly" set of episodes.
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And fans admitted they were left weeping after Natasha, played by Rachel Leskovac, died from her gunshot injuries in devastating scenes aired earlier this week, reports the Echo.
Actor Jude, who is aged just 10 in real life, has been singled out for praise as his character was shown to maturely deal with the loss of his mum in Wednesday's double header.
Coronation Street fans were brought to tears as he delivered a heart-breaking goodbye speech to his mum in the funeral home.
Jude's powerful performance earned praise from his Corrie co-stars as Jane Danson took to social media to laud his acting skills.
The actress, who plays Leanne Battersby, tweeted : "I work with @JudeRiordan most days and i know how wonderful he is. He has a maturity beyond his years and that scene with ‘My Nick ‘ was absolutely stunning.
"The two of them have just made me cry @itvcorrie"
Jude proudly hails from St Helens, Merseyside, and has been wowing Coronation Street fans ever since he debuted on the show as Nick Tilsley's long lost son in 2020.
Jude, who was born in 2011, comes from a talented family as his dad has forged a successful career in showbusiness as a television director.
Paul Riordan broke through in a behind the scenes role in Hollyoaks before he went on to earn directing credits for popular soaps such as Emmerdale and Casualty.
Jude was awarded a National Television Award at the 2021 ceremony for Best Newcomer - and his dad took to Twitter to say how proud he was of his son.
Paul tweeted: "Well this is pretty special… Proudest dad in the universe."
Jude's rise to fame began in 2017 when he appeared on the Channel 4 documentary, The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds.
He is also a regular on the Sky One show, Brassic, as Tyler Croft which has just returned to screen for series 3 - and his on-screen mum is played by former Corrie star Michelle Keegan.
And Coronation Street fans envision the young star's career to continue to go from strength-to-strength - as they took to Twitter to claim he will win many more awards in the future.
Margaret said: "If Jude Riordan doesn't win a shedload of awards for his performance on tonight's @itvcorrie,he will have been robbed!"
Ryan added: "Please give Jude Riordan all the awards please. He's a phenomenal actor."
Nikki posted: "@JudeRiordan is just the most amazing little actor...absolutely heartbreaking scenes with Sam and Nick tonight. He could give some adults an acting lesson. How does the remember all the words? He deserves all the awards."
Stuart commented: "That little dude that plays Sam is absolutely amazing. Deserves awards!"
Is Jude Riordan on social media?
Jude has an active presence on social media, thanks to his parents, who run accounts for their talented son on Twitter as @JudeRiordan and on Instagram as @JustJude7.
They regularly post updates about what Jude is up to on his showbiz journey, including behind the scenes on Coronation Street, Brassic and local charity work.
After the final scenes with his Corrie mum Rachel Leskovac were aired this week, he posted an adorable photo with the soap star, captioned: "My last day with @Rachelleskovac on @CoronationStreet. I think you can see how emosh we were. Eyes red raw from crying.
"I think it's very clear how much we clicked from our first face time last Spring. I wish we could've spent forever playing Mum & Son."
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