Tom Brittney's life off-camera and body dysmorphia that saw him skip school
Tom Brittney has dedicated his life to acting, but his drive to wanting to be the best on TV has come with some devastating consequences.
The 33-year-old shot to fame as the much-loved Reverend Will Davenport in ITV's Grantchester, but after five years in the role, he is taking a step back to focus on new and exciting telly projects. After joining the 1950s drama, based on The Grantchester Mysteries, a collection of short stories written by James Runcie, in 2019, he has said it's time to 'pass the baton on'.
The current series will be the star's last, with the village set to welcome Rishi Nair for its ninth series, who has starred in Hollyoaks and Count Abdulla, as the new vicar, Alphy Kotteram. Speaking about leaving the ITV programme, Tom said he has had an "incredible" experience, saying: "I got to solve crimes with my best friend, and work with the best cast and crew I could ever ask for.
Tom Brittney is leaving Grantchester in order to focus on new projects (ITV)"I'll miss it more than anything. But it's time for the baton to be passed, as it once was to me, and I'm so excited for Rishi to join the Grantchester family." Tom took on the role from Happy Valley star James Norton.
Before then, he worked on the daytime soap Doctors and then joined the cast of fantasy series Outlander, among other dramas. The Londoner grew up with theatre, as his mother was a drama teacher, and trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
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It was always his ambition to be on-screen, with the actor once opening up about how soul-destroying it can be when you miss out on dream roles, with him not allowing himself to have a backup plan. "Having that ambition makes it all the more painful when it doesn't come to reality," he told Glamour magazine. "I didn't have a plan B... luckily, I'd like to think it's working out, but it's a tough journey, I think putting all your love and hope into your ambition."
He went through a difficult time before picking up the Grantchester job, with a year out of work following a successful and busy year being cast in shows. As he ran out of money with work drying up, it became a stark reminder of how his fame could 'disappear' overnight.
And when he did appear on screens as the new vicar, he was met with negative criticism for the first time. "I'm very insecure with the way that I look and I'll beat myself up about performances," he admitted. He explained that he was diagnosed with body dysmorphia a few years ago, which made sense to him after reflecting on how he would be his own biggest critic.
"I used to take off days from school, because I just hated the way that I looked," he added. Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others.
There are treatments for the disorder, including therapy called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). When it comes to Tom's love life, he was previously linked with illustrator Kate Tweedle, and the pair were pictured on the red carpet for ITV Palooza in 2019.
However, their romance is believed to have ended in 2021. Since then, he has shared snaps on his Instagram of a mystery blonde, with the cosy couple enjoying a holiday to Sciliy together.
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