Coronation Street star shares Scouse connection and 'no-one believes him'

Fans of a Coronation Street actor were stunned after he explained his connection to Liverpool.

Noah Olaoye is an actor and social media star. He made his name with his hilarious sketches on TikTok, often parodying former Manchester City footballer and current pundit Micah Richards.

He has since appeared alongside Micah with the likes of Jamie Carragher on US channel CBS Sports and Jamie Redknapp on A League of their Own. He also appeared on Coronation Street as Gav Adetiba, a friend of Max Turner on the soap.

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However, last week, he stunned his 300,000 TikTok followers when he revealed he has lived in Liverpool since he was two years old, despite not having a Scouse accent. He admitted even close friends do not believe him when he tells them he is a Scouser.

Noah has been told that his parents disapproved of the Scouse accent when he began picking it up at his nursery, and therefore he opted not to sound like his classmates, adopting what he called a ‘weird hybrid accent’.

Speaking to the ECHO, Noah, 25, who still lives in Merseyside, wasn’t surprised by the reaction to his TikTok. He said: “It's one thing that always surprises people, including some people I even went to school with.

“A lot of people struggle to place my accent. It is a surprise to people. Some people think I'm from down south.”

Nevertheless, Noah argues Liverpool made him who he is today. He said: “I’m convinced that Liverpool is one of the artistic centres of the world. Liverpool was a trailblazer for music. In terms of art and creativity, I've always felt at home in Liverpool.

“I know so many musicians, artists and painters. The vibe is always one of grafting and creating.”

Noah has always been a creative person, and at 16 knew he wanted to be an actor. However, after finishing his acting degree in 2020, he was left with a dilemma.

He said: “I want to say I graduated but I kind of didn’t - it was during the pandemic. I was at a crossroads in terms of what I wanted to do. I was fortunate enough to get an agent before lockdown but everything was closed.

“I asked myself, what are you going to do? What I can do to keep the creative juices flowing and keep myself busy?”

Noah was “astounded” by the amount of creativity he was seeing on TikTok and decided to start making videos himself. He said: “It was just to cure boredom but I always had faith in myself that I’d make it. I grew up watching YouTube stars.”

Noah’s popularity grew and grew over the next two years with his ingenious sketches and impressions. One of his clips impersonating Micah Richards was played to the ex-footballer while he was appearing as a pundit on CBS Sports Golazo, which shows Champions League football to US audiences.

Noah was soon invited on the show, where he met Micah alongside fellow pundits Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry and presenter Kate Abdo. Noah said: “That was a wonderful moment. It was the second time I've met Jamie. Kate Abdo is a legend.

“It was meeting Henry that gave me chills. He’s such a nice guy. Being on that show, with people you grew up watching and sharing a screen with them, is really amazing.”

During this period, Noah was still hunting for acting roles and eventually landed a huge opportunity. He said: “I was still going for auditions, shows, productions. But the big one happened when I was cast in Coronation Street.

“I want to say my acting career is very much in its infancy. Corrie is the most mainstream thing I’ve done. I’m very happy with it.”

Noah believes this is just the beginning of what’s to come. He said: “I've always been a creative person. I’m a musician too, I can rap. That's something I'm looking to push out a bit more. I performed at the Liverpool International Music Festival a couple of years ago.

“I’m proud of everything that I have achieved. When you first start, you have a few ideas. I’ve considered just doing acting full-time, or just doing social media full-time.

“I never thought I'd be doing both simultaneously. Looking back, I'm very happy with my journey. It's only going to get bigger and better.”

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