Education
Wilkes attended Holden Lane High School in Stoke-on-Trent.
Actor association football player
Wilkes attended Holden Lane High School in Stoke-on-Trent.
Wilkes had ambitions to become a football player, and was a part of Everton"s youth set-up in 1993. He went on to trials at Crewe Alexandra and Chester City as well as playing for Silverstone Football Club. Wilkes gave up his ambitions in football, so pursued a career in entertainment. In 2004 Wilkes appeared in Sky One"s The Match where he captained a football match at Street James" Park for a team of celebrities against a team of "legends".
Robbie Williams, along with various celebrities including Wilkes, fronted Soccer Aid, a series of celebrity football matches held every two years in support of United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. He scored in the 2006, 2008 and 2012 matches as well as scoring a penalty in 2010.
In 2000, Wilkes signed a deal with Virgin and began to write and record material for an album, along with songwriters Guy Chambers, Bryan Adams and Elliot Kennedy. His debut single "Just Another Day" went to Number.
24 in the United Kingdom Singles Chart. In 2006, he joined Robbie Williams on his Close Encounters Tour, singing "Maine and My Shadow" and "Strong", as well as playing football with Williams on stage.
The duet with Williams for "Maine and My Shadow" was recorded live and featured on Williams"s 2001 Digital Video Disc and video Swing When You"re Winning.
In February 2002, Wilkes took the lead role in the musical Godspell, which premiered in Liverpool, where Wilkes and Daniel McPherson alternated the roles of Jesus and Judas each night. Wilkes took the lead role of Frank North Furter in The Rocky Horror Show for the 30th anniversary national tour, from October 2002 to November 2003. In 2003, Wilkes also played the lead role of Danny in a Christmas and New Year production of Grease.
In 2007, Wilkes toured with the Donmar Warehouse performance of Guys and Dolls, playing the role of Sky Masterson.
In 2008, Wilkes toured in the debut United Kingdom theatre production of The Wedding Singer. He took up the role of Khasshoggi in Queen"s We Will Rock You United Kingdom tour.
He has been in the production of many pantomimes at Stoke-on-Trent"s Regent Theatre, usually playing the lead male role with his catchphrase of "Ey up, me ducks", to which the audience are encouraged to reply "Ey up, !". Wilkes played Billy Flynn in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre, London.
In 2013, he joined Robbie Williams to record "You Got Old" as an extra track on Robbie"s single Go Gentle.