So, the government uses actors. Why not? Dave Prowse, most famous for playing Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, dressed up as Green Cross Code Man in an information film and encouraged youngsters to cross the road with care.
Ronald Reagan, before his own life in politics, starred in films during World War II for the U.S. Army.
But what if the actor’s connections to government aren’t advertised as such and the campaigns they are involved in are covert, party political, and partisan?
Step into the spotlight and take a bow, Miss Nichola Thorp, late of Coronation Street, Dr Who (where she is credited as Nichola Sian) and, as it turns out, of the Home Office.
Two weeks ago, via her Instagram account, the 36-year-old, born and bred northern lass, posted to social media a piece entitled ‘Why I Will No Longer Work with the Home Office.’ Her little speech included the lines:
‘Last week, the Home Office contacted me to ask if I would participate in promoting some of the work that they’re doing on their Violence Against Women and Girls strategy. Now, many of you might know that I’ve done work with the Home Office before on stalking legislation and other things.’
Miss Thorp goes on to say that, in response to the proscribing of Palestine Action, she won’t ‘essentially promote and do PR for an organisation’ which, in Ms Thorp’s view, is part of a violent campaign victimising women and girls in Gaza.
Since then, she uses her Instagram and X platforms to amplify pro-Palestinian messages about Gaza, resharing reports on civilian casualties, and water, power, and food shortages. She presses for an immediate ceasefire, an international investigation into Israel, and tags organisations advocating for Gaza.
We will examine her change of direction later, but first, what might have been the ‘other things’ that Miss Thorp promoted and did PR for on behalf of the Home Office?
In a TikTok livestream dated Saturday, 3rd of August 2024, London-resident Nichola happens to be back in her childhood home of Blackpool, ‘visiting parents’. She attends a protest in the town following the murder of three girls at a dance class in nearby Southport — this being the weekend following the Axel Radabanka attack.
In the stream, the recording mobile phone is held by someone else who films Thorp. The piece is captioned ‘Blackpool protest: This woman talks facts’. In the background, a large white man addresses the crowd. It can be seen from the screen that the content has been altered using AI.
Two days later, on Monday the 5th, the busy and well-travelled Miss Thorp is back in London and appearing on the Jeremy Vine Show opposite Richard Tice. This correspondent understands that, tellingly, Miss Thorp was booked onto the show before travelling to Blackpool.
On the programme, Vine omits to mention any connection between Thorp and the Home Office.
With the aid of copious typed notes on the desk in front of her, and more or less reading from them with a finger like a six-year-old, Thorp addresses Vine’s listeners and viewers.
In between talking over and contradicting everything Richard Tice says, she states she wanted to visit the Blackpool protest because she ‘understands that community’. She is from that community, knows those people and ‘grew up around them.’
I wonder?
Not quite embedded into the Cr*pbool of legend, Nichola Sian Thorp was born in the Lancashire seaside resort in 1989. Her parents are Jan and Jeoff. Successful business people in the confectionery trade (Stanton & Celebrity), their daughter attended a private school, AKS Lytham, further along the Fylde ‘Gold Coast’. Other former pupils include Dr Who and Victoria actress Jenna-Louise Coleman.
As with Jenna-Louise, Nichola took an interest in acting and, following a spell as deputy head girl of her private school, left Blackpool forever in her late teens to live in London. There she lived in the exclusive media-popular Chiswick suburb while studying at London’s Arts Educational School — another private educational establishment.
Upon completing her studies, Nichola combined jobbing acting with working for Price Cooper Waterhouse.
It was there that she hit the headlines after being sent home without pay for refusing to wear the mandated 2–4 inch high heels. Sparking national outrage, her petition against sexist dress codes gained over 150,000 signatures and prompted a parliamentary debate. Though the law remained unchanged, her campaign raised awareness and led to updated workplace guidelines.
By now Nichola was living on a houseboat. Her recollections vary. In interview with the Daily Mirror, this was a ‘hardship’. With the Blackpool Gazette, she’d always wanted a barge and loved being close to the water.
A stint on Coronation Street followed, playing Nichola Rubinstein between 2017 and 2019. Partway through her stint as a Street regular, Nichola was the victim of a stalker. Ravinderjit Dhillon, a 30‑year‑old man from Feltham, West London, harassed her using online aliases before being convicted of stalking involving fear of violence and jailed for 30 months.
After the end of Nichola’s soap gig, her showbiz career consists of not much other than spells on talk shows as an activist guest and, we now realise, as a recently self-terminated promotions and PR advocate for the Home Office.
This denouement includes clanking on-message media posts in response to current events. For instance, ‘Far-right groups co-opt this case [Rudakubana] to suit their racist political agenda, the rest of us cannot and must not be silent and allow them to fill the vacuum and take others with them.’
Netflix Adolescence-style, she deflects from the actions of the Rwandan Muslim: ‘Young men continue to be radicalised into violence against women and we must do all that we can to protect our girls.’ A Metro article bylined broadcaster and writer (rather than actress and soap star) is headlined: ‘From Shamima Begum to asylum seekers, why does it seem the UK’s default position is cruelty?’
As if Green Cross Code Man knocking kids over in his Hillman Hunter or Ronald Reagan spotted carrying a flaming torch in Triumph of the Will, what might have caused Nichola’s change of heart from Home Office shill to Palestine activist? Might it be the heart?
Only weeks after the Blackpool demonstration, Miss Thorp became Mrs Patel at a ceremony in the seaside town. On her social media, the bride told of a ‘weekend of pure magic’ and of getting ‘married in the same place that race riots broke out three weeks ago.’ Then still a Home Office asset, her posts and the comments beneath them are heavy with multi-culti point scoring.
For her husband is another actor and former private school pupil (The London School), Hikesh Patel. Wembley-born Mr Patel will be familiar to Puffins who are themselves familiar with London Has Fallen (where he played Pradhan), Starstruck (Tom), and Amazon Prime romcom Picture This (Akshay).
On his socials, the 40-year-old ‘stands up for woke’, tells us of his electoral canvassing on behalf of the Labour Party, supports Black Lives Matter, and insists upon more brown people being included in sci-fi.
However, he has nothing to say about Palestine and describes himself – evidenced by the wedding photographs – as being a Hindu, albeit a non-practising one.
If not motivated by the heart, might Mrs Patel be moved by the purse? In their coverage of the original Instagram post, The Daily Telegraph states both that the government increasingly uses social media influencers and that they understand Nichola’s connection to the Home Office to be ‘voluntary.’
Other understandings may differ! In an age in which USAID tips money onto the likes of Iraqi Sesame Street, the BBC’s ‘charity’ arm, and Michael Moore, the reflective viewer must have their doubts.
Let’s not forget that during last year’s election campaign, foul-mouthed actor Andrew Parker appeared in a Channel 4 piece as if a Reform activist in the seat Nigel Farage was contesting.
Given Mrs Thorp-Patel only has 60,000 followers on Instagram, is in her late 30s and is always ‘resting’, you do have to wonder what the point is. Or, from the other end of the celebrity reach telescope, what does this tell us about how many celebs might be signed up to the government?
If a Puffin really needs to know – or wants to hire Ms Thorp for themselves or their cause – they might contact her agent, Dave Malik at John Noel Management – those nice people who provide ‘members of the public’ for reality TV shows.
© Always Worth Saying 2025
