Nearly a decade before Jonathan Bailey was the talk of the ton on Bridgerton, he was a star on Disney Channel’s Groove High.
Bailey, 36, previously appeared on the one-season U.K. sitcom in 2012, costarring with Broadway veteran Samantha Barks. Bailey and Barks, 33, portrayed teen rock stars Tom and Zoe while balancing touring with high school.
While it’s been 12 years since Bailey left Groove High behind, social media users are rediscovering the British show in light of his role on Netflix’s Bridgerton.
“POOKIE WOOKIE,” one fan wrote via X in June, as another added, “How did I not know it was Jonathan Bailey all this time!!”
A third chimed in, writing, “Omg never knew this existed, I would have had a huge crush on him back then.”
Both Bailey and Barks, who reunited for the 2015 U.K. stage production of The Last Five Years, still have a special place in their hearts for Groove High.
“I’ve known Sam for a few years,” he said during a 2016 appearance on Graham Norton’s BBC Radio 2 show. “[Groove High] was our first collab … and essentially we got cast when I was about 21 and [Samantha] was about 19. We got around to filming the live-action — because it was half live-action and half cartoon — when I was about 25 playing [a] 14-year-old, but it was an extraordinary experience.”
He added, “It was a high-octane, colorful series!”
Bailey is best known for playing Viscount Anthony Bridgerton in the steamy Regency drama, adapted from Julia Quinn’s novels of the same name, starting in 2020. His character married Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) in 2022’s season 2. He has also appeared on Crashing, Chewing Gum and Fellow Travelers. Next up, Bailey will star as Fiyero in the two-part Wicked adaptations, the latest Jurassic World sequel and further seasons of Bridgerton.
Anthony and Kate did not appear in all eight episodes of Bridgerton season 3, deciding to take a lengthy trip to her home in India to welcome their first baby.
“I think the strength of sending them off to India for a little while is that it does leave the door open for them to come back, schedules allowing,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Teen Vogue. “I think, understandably, when any of our lead actors have given over their lives for their season, in future seasons, we want to be supportive of the fact that they do have other projects coming in, and to ask actors to come back just to be in the background is not really fair to them.”
Bailey isn’t the only Bridgerton actor who got their start with the Mouse House.
“Omg a second bridgerton who came from a Disney show!? are there any more?” an X user wrote earlier this month.
Luke Newton, who plays season 3 lead Colin Bridgerton, also appeared on Disney Channel U.K. on 2016’s The Lodge, which was a teen musical series.
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