Welsh Britain’s Got Talent star lands role in one of TV’s most talked-about shows of the year

Amelia Jones  

A Welsh actor who first shot to fame as a 12-year-old on Britain’s Got Talent is heading for a very different kind of spotlight after landing a major role in the second season of hit hockey romance Heated Rivalry.

Swansea-born Shaheen Jafargholi has been announced as Fabian Salah, an aspiring musician who becomes romantically involved with hockey player Ryan Price, played by Daniel Diemer.

He will be appearing alongside a host of new characters being introduced as the hugely successful series expands its story in season two.

The casting marks another major chapter in Jafargholi’s career, which has taken him from Welsh stage schools and a memorable appearance on Britain’s Got Talent to some of Britain’s best-known soaps and dramas.

Jafargholi was born in Swansea in 1997 and began performing from a young age, attending the Mark Jermin Stage School. His big television break came in 2009, when he appeared on Britain’s Got Talent aged just 12.

His audition initially looked as though it might go badly wrong. He began singing “Valerie”, but Simon Cowell stopped him after only a couple of lines, telling the young performer that the song was not right for him.

When Cowell gave him another chance, Jafargholi launched into “Who’s Lovin’ You”, famously associated with the Jackson 5, and the reaction was completely different. His powerful performance earned a standing ovation and turned him into one of the memorable young performers from that year’s competition.

It was the same series that introduced audiences to Susan Boyle, and Jafargholi ultimately finished seventh in the competition. Jafargholi then went on to build a substantial acting career.

In 2016, he joined BBC soap EastEnders as Shakil Kazemi. He remained with the show for two years before Shakil was killed in a knife-crime storyline in 2018. The storyline became one of the show’s major issue-led plots, exploring the devastating consequences of knife crime.

Later in 2018, he joined Casualty as nurse Marty Kirkby. The role gave him a long-running part in the medical drama, which is filmed in Wales, and he remained with the series until 2023.

Since leaving Casualty, Jafargholi has continued to build his acting CV, appearing in productions including Wreck, Lost Boys & Fairies and The Agency.

That makes Heated Rivalry a significant next step for the Welsh actor, putting him in a series with an increasingly international audience.

Heated Rivalry is a television adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series of romance novels. The first season centred on professional hockey rivals Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams, and Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie.

Their relationship develops over years as they attempt to balance their careers, their feelings for one another and the pressures surrounding professional sport and their sexuality. The series became a major hit, combining sports drama with a deeply personal romance.

Season two will continue Shane and Ilya’s story while expanding the television universe to include characters from other books in Reid’s Game Changers series.

Heated Rivalry season 2 is scheduled to premiere in April 2027. Season 1 is available to watch on Prime Video.

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