Chester heart-throb and Poldark star Josh Whitehouse had more than four million viewers on the edge of their sofas as they waited with bated - and slightly panting- breath to see if he would finally manage to seduce the elusive Demelza in the series finale of the BBC drama on Sunday night.

The ‘will they, won’t they’ storyline between former Queen’s Park High School pupil Josh’s character Lieutenant Hugh Armitage and flame-haired Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) gripped Poldark fans throughout series three and their patience was finally rewarded with a steamy, slow-motion seduction in the windswept sand dunes of Cornwall’s wildest coastline.

Burberry model Josh, 27, grew up in the city with his three brothers and a sister and got his first big break in the 2014 indie flick Northern Soul before going on to star in Alleycats (2016) opposite Eleanor Tomlinson, his eventual Poldark love interest.

Josh Whitehouse as Lieutenant Hugh Armitage and Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza in the final episode of the latest series of Poldark
Josh Whitehouse as Lieutenant Hugh Armitage and Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza in the final episode of the latest series of Poldark

Talking previously about landing the role as enigmatic Lieutenant Hugh, Josh described filming as a ‘lovely experience’ and said: “The cast and crew have been so kind and welcoming to me, things have been running very smoothly and everything is so well organised.”

An average 4.9 million viewers tuned in to watch the rousing finale at the weekend with many speculating afterwards how they would survive without their weekly dollop of brooding Cornish high-drama.

But keen musician Josh, who plays in rock band More Like Trees, has already moved on to the next big thing and will soon be seen in new film releases The Receptionist by Jenny Lu and comedy Modern Life is Rubbish, which recently screened at The Edinburgh Film Festival.

He’s also bagged the lead role in a remake of the 1983 musical Valley Girl, opposite Jessica Rothe, which launched Nicolas Cage’s career and is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet and tells the tale of a punk rocker who falls for a well-to-do girl from the Valley.

Joshua Whitehouse

Fans will have to wait to see if Josh can drag himself away from Hollywood’s bright lights and return as dashing Hugh for series four of Poldark which begins filming in September.