As fans were glued to their screens watching him in birth-swap thriller Playing Nice, the show’s star James Norton was spotted out in London.
Norton, 39, was seen wandering around London in a red beanie – reminiscent of his Happy Valley character Tommy Lee Royce, on Friday (January 10).
Onlookers in Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden said he was with a brunette woman.
Both were taking phone calls as they wandered along Saint Martin’s Lane, fans said.
One said: “He looked pretty happy and relaxed. They were both talking quite loudly on their phones.
The actor was spotted in central London. (Image: SWNS)
“My husband saw him first and was saying ‘look, red hat, red hat’.
“He was actually wearing clothes a bit like what his character Tommy Lee Royce wears on Happy Valley.”
On January 13, the ITV drama about toddlers swapped at birth concluded, with the Happy Valley actor playing the dad of one child.
Explaning the drama, ITV said: “Living a waking nightmare, Pete (James Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar) are jettisoned into the world of the other couple; Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay).
“At first it seems all four are agreed on a solution, but it soon becomes clear that hidden motives are at play.
“How far can each couple trust the real parents of their child – or even each other?
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“As Pete and Maddie are stretched to breaking point, they realise they will stop at nothing to keep their family together.”
Along with staring in Playing Nice and Happy Valley, Norton also stared in Grantchester, Joy, McMafia, Mr Jones, War and Peace and Little Women.
Playing Nice aired across four days from January 5 to January 13.