Jeremy Sheffield: 'I like a challenge'

Jeremy Sheffield has revealed that one of his favourite things about being an actor is not knowing what comes next.

The former Holby City actor, who stars in the new series of the BBC One drama Hotel Babylon, had a successful career at the Royal Ballet in London - but he quit at 27 to become an actor.

"Fundamentally it was because of an injury," he says. "I had a series of operations on my ankle after breaking my big toe during a show. They tried to fix it but it was never going to be 100 per cent.

"At the time I'd had enough of dancing anyway, so it made a difficult decision much easier, a surgeon saying, 'You can't do this any more'."

And the 41-year-old hasn't looked back, despite the insecurity of being a jobbing actor.

"One of the things I got a bit fed up with in the ballet was the predictability of it," he says.

"My personality is, probably naively, not to worry too much about money. I really love the fact I don't know what's coming next. The older I get it becomes more of a worry, because I've got a huge mortgage to pay.

"But my natural instinct is that I like new things, I respond much better to them. It's why I became an actor, and the reason I left Holby City - I wanted a new challenge.

"That's the good side of being an actor - the downside is you never know if you're going to get another job!"

The new series of Hotel Babylon starts on BBC One on Tuesday February 19.