Trigger Point star reveals surprise career move away from acting

Trigger Point star Nabil Elouahabi has disclosed his unique career away from TV screens, admitting he stepped back from an NHS role recently and is now training to become a therapist.

The actor appears alongside the likes of Vicky McClure and Kerry Godliman in the thrilling drama, playing Hass Rahim as the ITV series has returned for a third season.

While onscreen he's part of Lana Washington's terrifying bomb disposal unit, Nabil has now revealed the important work he does in his free time.

During an appearance on BBC Breakfast, Nabil explained he is also an NHS driver, but admitted, "I haven't done that for a while".

He went on: "I used to do that, and I used to love doing that, taking doctors to patients. It was a way for me to stay in the society, because when you're not working, I didn't want to stay at home doing nothing, I want to do something.

"And I met some amazing people, amazing doctors and nurses, it was a whole different world, it was showbiz in a different way, quite dramatic!"

He went on to share the role came up after a friend worked at a hospital near him, saying: "I liked the idea of doing something I'd never normally do. I wanted to train as a paramedic at one point, but then I realised that was going to take me away from acting, and I'm just about to start retraining as a therapist, so that will be interesting.

"It's a five-year course, so five years from now I'll hopefully be a qualified therapist and be able to do both."

Opening up about whether his new role would be instead of acting, he told hosts Jon Kay and Sally Nugent: "I've done this for 25 years, and it would be lovely to do something different and maybe have another career, who knows?"

He added that it was his own experience of therapy that led to him discovering his ADHD diagnosis "and a bunch of other stuff".

"We care about what we put in our bodies and how we look, why shouldn't we care about how we think and why we think those things?" he continued.

Elsewhere during his appearance on BBC Breakfast, Nabil teased the new series of Trigger Point, which returned to screens last night.

"It's a little bit stressful, it's not necessarily relaxing, but it's gripping," he teased.

"It just keeps going, and we're really, really proud of it."

The upcoming series sees Lana and her team faced with a bomb threat that soon unravels into a sinister vendetta: someone is seeking revenge by targeting specific individuals.

Several stars are returning alongside Unforgotten actor Nabil, including Eric Shango (On The Edge), Natalie Simpson (North Sea Connection) and Maanuv Thiara (DI Ray, Landscapers), along with guest star Jason Flemyng (Gemma Bovery, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).

The ITV synopsis previously hinted that season three would see "Lana Washington and her team investigate a bomb threat that soon reveals itself to be the start of a sinister vendetta".

"Someone is targeting individuals and demanding revenge," the release continued. "Working alongside the Police Counter Terrorism Unit, the Bomb Disposal Squad race against time to find the bomber before they claim their next victim."

Producer Jed Mercurio commented: "The first priority is always characters, particularly Lana. We know she's been through a lot, and we wanted to put that on screen.

"It's important that we show the toll that the job takes on expos - these are heroic characters, trying to save lives, literally putting themselves right next to an explosive device and dealing with the challenges of that.

"There are consequences and there's loss, which all creates a really interesting psychological challenge for Lana. In Vicky's hands we know this is a story that will be delivered in a really moving way, and we want to pay tribute to the work the real explosives officers do, and their courage."

BBC Breakfast airs from 6am on BBC One and iPlayer.