When Sam Fender first shot to fame, did you get a feeling you've seen him somewhere before?
That could be because teenage Sam appeared on TV as an actor years before he topped the charts.
As well as a well-documented stint in Vera, Sam, now 27, had a significant speaking part in a long-running CBBC drama filmed in the North East when he was a teenager, having taken up acting as a way to channel his energy, on the advice of his gran.
Read more: Eight things to know about Sam Fender
Sam, from North Shields, was cast in Wolfblood, a fantasy drama first aired on CBBC in 2012.
The Brit Award winner played Dean in the show, who causes a stir in episode six of the first series when he gives his number to lead character Maddy after waving off an approach from another girl, Kay.
Kay gets jealous of Dean's interest in Maddy, sparked by a street dance performance, leading to a kick-off at Kay's birthday party towards the end of the show.
The evidence is still online for all to see, with the entire series available to watch on iPlayer.
Speaking about his teenage acting days, Sam told the Evening Standard in 2019: " I was the first person to be murdered in Vera. I was 15. I also had a speaking part in CBBC series Wolfblood. If anyone unearths it they’ll see why I didn’t pursue acting. I was terrible.
“I would like to give it another stab now though. I was just a teenager and found being on TV overwhelming.”
Fans of Wolfblood and Sam have aired their amazement that they never put two and two together.
"How have I only just realised this," replied Elouise Goodchild to a YouTube compilation of Sam's Wolfblood scenes.
"This is my favourite episode of Wolfblood and I have only just realised this," wrote Kayden Lewis.
Woolfblood tells the story of teenage werewolves Maddy and Rhydian, as they struggle to navigate secondary school while simultaneously hiding their true identities.
Wolfblood, which ran for five series, was filmed at Charles Thorp Comprehensive School, now Thorp Academy and previously known as Hookergate School, in High Spen, near Gateshead, with additional scenes around the North East.
Sam, nominated for three 2022 Brit Awards, is not the only Wolfblood alumnus to have found success. His love interest in the show and series lead, Maddy, is played by former Sacred Heart pupil Aimée Kelly, from Newcastle, who earned a Bafta nomination for Wolfblood and appears in a comedy-drama about a Geordie art thief, The Duke, set to be released in cinemas on February 25.
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