Celebrity Race Across the World: Who is Dylan Llewellyn and mum Jackie and what TV shows has he been in?
Lottie O'Neill | 6:30pm Thu 6 NovCelebrity Race Across the World is back on our screens in a matter of days, and soap and sitcom star Dylan Llewellyn is teaming up with his mum in the hopes of winning the crown.
The brand new series is returning on Thursday (November 6), where a group of stars will take on the ultimate race by traveling across the world without phones or access to the internet.
The celebs will travel across 5,900km of the undiscovered Caribbean and Pacific coast of Central America. They’ll start on Isla Mujeres, a picturesque island a part of the Caribbean, and race to the finish line in the remote Peninsula de La Guajira in Colombia.
Derry Girls actor Dylan Llewellyn is taking part in the new series of Celebrity Race Across the World alongside his mum Jackie. The BBC revealed the Derry Girls star, who is 33, was joining the cast earlier this year.
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Who is Dylan Llewellyn in Celebrity Race Across The World?
Born on September 10, 1992, Dylan grew up in Surrey. The 33-year-old is known for several hit TV shows and movies.
Dylan Llewellyn appeared on Big Boys, Derry Girls and Beyond Paradise but also had a part in Channel 5 soap Hollyoaks.
You may remember him as the ‘wee English fella’ James Maguire in Derry Girls, with the Channel 4 series becoming his big break.
But his career began on the hit E4 soap years earlier. Dylan played Martin ‘Jono’ Johnson in Hollyoaks for 94 episodes, until his character met his tragic end. Jono and his girlfriend Ruby were planning to elope and stole a faulty minibus to make the journey. However, it ended up in a crash with Jono tragically dying the next day in Ruby’s arms from a blood clot.
He was cast as Jack in Big Boys, as well as PC Kelby Hartford in Death in Paradise spin-off show, Beyond Paradise.
Where does Dylan Llewellyn live?
The actor hails from Reigate and Surrey, where he grew up with his parents and two older brothers. Despite his success on TV, he was still living there in 2024.
He did admit in January of that year he was planning to move to South London to be near to the capital for acting opportunities.
He told NME he wants to be “closer to everything”.
Dylan Llewellyn almost gave up on acting – until he got the part in Derry Girls
Dylan actually never wanted to become an actor and says it all happened by accident. He told The Independent he wanted to “be a photographer” and that was the subject he received his first ever A-grade in.
The Derry Girls star admitted he chose drama as a “doss subject” originally, hoping it would pass the time. But it turns out, he started enjoying it much more than he expected. He “ended up getting way more into it, I got into doing impressions and began having fun on stage”.
Dylan was then scouted by an agency when his GCSE group performed at the National Theatre through a competition.
The star also explained in an interview in 2022, that he was ‘struggling’ to nail auditions and was “close to giving up”.
He was working part-time in a deli when he found out he bagged the role of James in Derry Girls. He remembers his boss “rooting” for his acting career and supporting his endeavours on the silver screen.
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Dylan Llewellyn ‘struggled’ on Celebrity Race Across the World
Llewellyn said about his time on the show: “It’s like a whole whirlwind of emotions, and so many struggles and challenges. But also, I feel like you grow a lot as a person. I feel like I’m a better person after it.
“We were a great team, we helped each other a lot. We had each other’s backs.”
You’ll have to watch Thursday’s episode to find out how the duo got on!
Read more: Celebrity Race Across the World 2025 line-up revealed
Relationship with his mum
Dylan and Jackie appear to have a close relationship. In a recent interview with radio DJ Scott Mills, she said she was proud of her son.
Dylan Llewellyn’s mum also said the experience was ’emotional’ while on Celebrity Race Across the World. Jackie, 59, said they were “in tears of laughter sometimes. Tears of sadness as well”.
When Mills told her they were “huge fans of your son”and she must be proud of the actor, she replied: “I can’t believe he’s my son”.
However, the actor is private about his personal and family life. But we do know that Dylan’s mum has a springer spaniel pup called Bentley.
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What TV shows and movies has Dylan Llewellyn starred in?
Dylan was cast in Hollyoaks in 2011, and made a brief appearance in another soap, Holby City, in 2013. He also played Stewart Irmsby in Call the Midwife, as well as Joe Connolly in the children’s TV series Dodo.
Apart from Derry Girls, he also played the part as Wally Nightingale in the mini series Pistol in 2022 before nabbing the role as Jack in Big Boys.
Drama fans may recognise Dylan from Beyond Paradise. He played PC Kelby Hartford and appeared in 20 episodes between 2023 and 2025.
The actor is also taking part of Apple TV’s The Sisters Grimm TV Series, portraying Jack in the animated series. It follows two fairy tale detectives, orphaned sisters Sabrina and Daphne, as they discover the true history of their family’s legacy.
In terms of movies, Dylan has appeared in Reavey Brothers (2021) as Anthony Reavey, and another short film Finger Prick where he played Alexi.
Before that, he was cast as Sam in Down Dog in 2014, and teenager Zak in Frequencies.
Close connection with Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan
It appears Dylan Llewellyn is still good pals with his co-star Nicola Coughlan as well – and we’re sure she’ll be cheering him on in Celebrity Race Across the World!
The duo appeared in the hit sitcom together, but have remained close ever since. For example, they were snapped together at the Big Boys Series 3 screening, and Nicola has given the actor shout-outs on social media over his career.
In May 2024, he told Hello Magazine he was “excited” to see his pal in Bridgerton Season 3. Dylan had admitted he watched the first two seasons of the Netflix hit and was excited by the third, where Nicola had the lead role.
In January, Nicola Coughlan shared snaps of them both at the screening on her Instagram stories with the caption “so proud of you my sweet Dylan Llewellyn”. He replied with his own picture and called her “My Derry Gal”.
While some fans may have hoped for romance between the two co-stars, it seems to have remained a strong friendship instead.
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Is Dylan Llewellyn dyslexic?
Yes, the actor has opened up about overcoming difficulties at school and learning lines for his roles previously. Dylan Llewellyn has spoken about his dyslexia diagnosis more than once, and how gaming helped him beat loneliness as he was growing up.
“I felt so far behind everyone else,” he explained. “They were storming through with their studies and I couldn’t understand what was going on. It was so difficult, and I felt like I was stupid.”
He added: “I went to a dyslexic and autistic school called More House School. The teachers were well trained with dealing with dyslexia, classes were smaller, and everyone had support to work through coursework and homework, but I know that is exceptional. I hope other schools are doing similar.”
The star confessed the dyslexia affected his confidence, so he would play video games to combat that feeling. He said it was a “good getaway” and gaming became his “happy place”.
But it has affected the way he approaches his acting roles too. Dylan says he needs to make sure he has time to learn his lines due to his dyslexia.
