TV & Movies
Jonathan Bailey’s Pre-Bridgerton Disney Channel Role Is Going Viral
“I never knew this existed!”
Fans have caught wind of Jonathan Bailey’s pre-Bridgerton Disney days. A clip of the actor in the musical comedy Groove High recently made the rounds on X (formerly Twitter), a performance that’s worlds away from the dashing Anthony Bridgerton.
Airing on Disney Channel U.K. between 2012 and 2013, the live action and animated show followed two touring pop stars, Tom (Bailey) and Zoe (played by Samantha Barks), who reminisce about their time at an elite performing arts high school.
Three years after the show wrapped, Bailey and Barks reunited, starring together in a West End production of The Last Five Years.
The actor’s role in the short-lived Disney show came a surprise to many Bridgerton fans. “How did I not know it was Johnathan Bailey all this time!” one X user commented. Another wrote, “Omg I never knew this existed! I would have had a huge crush on him back then (still have obvs).”
Before he joined the Netflix behemoth, Bailey acted in a slew of TV shows. He previously worked on the British crime drama Broadchurch opposite Olivia Colman, the 2014 season of Doctor Who, the award-winning comedy Chewing Gum, and the action thriller Jack Ryan with John Krasinski.
More recently, he starred in Showtime’s Fellow Travelers opposite Matt Bomer, and is set to play Fiyero Tigelaar in the upcoming movie musical Wicked.
He recently confirmed that he’s also landed a role in the new Jurassic World sequel. “It’s brilliant. I remember going to see Jurassic Park with my family,” Bailey said on The Tonight Show. “It’s history, and it’s the John Williams score. It’s [Steven] Spielberg. I have got nightmares for sort of 30 years, so now my nightmare has come true.”
More Disney-Turned-Bridgerton Stars
As some fans pointed out, Bailey isn’t the only Bridgerton star with a Disney Channel past. Before starring as Colin Bridgerton in the hit Netflix drama, Luke Newton played Ben Evans in Disney’s The Lodge. And Hannah Dodd (Francesca Bridgerton) played Dorothea “Thea” Raphael in the fantasy-drama Find Me in Paris, which aired on the Disney Channel in France, Italy, and Latin America for three seasons (2019–2020).
