Nick Mohammed

Nick Mohammed
Mohammed in 2025
Born	Nicholas George Mohammed (1980-10-02) October 2, 1980 (age 45) Leeds, England
Education	Durham University (BSc) University of Cambridge (incomplete PhD)
Occupations	Actor comedian writer
Years active	2006–present
Spouse	Becca Mohammed ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	3

Nicholas George Mohammed (born 2 October 1980) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is known for portraying the character Mr. Swallow on stage and television. He is the creator of the Sky One/Peacock comedy series Intelligence, as well as starring in it alongside actor, comedian and director David Schwimmer. Mohammed portrayed the character of Nathan Shelley in the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, for which he was nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category at the 73rd and 74th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Nicholas George Mohammed[1] was born 2 October 1980 in Leeds, England.[2] His mother was a Cyprus-born general practitioner and his Trinidad-born father worked in law.[3]

Mohammed was educated at Abbey Grange High School in Leeds. He turned down an offer to study at the University of Cambridge and instead chose to study for a BSc in Geophysics at Durham University,[4] where he was a member of St Aidan's College[5] and played violin in the university orchestra.[6] He auditioned for the Durham Revue twice but failed to get in, and instead frequented the local comedy circuit.[7]

After graduating from Durham in 2003, Mohammed began studying for a PhD in seismology at the Bullard Laboratories and Magdalene College, Cambridge.[6] He did not complete a doctorate, after dropping out to pursue comedy.[8] Whilst in Cambridge, he successfully auditioned for the Cambridge Footlights.[9][10]

From age 16 to 30, Mohammed worked as a closeup magician for hotels and weddings.[11]

Mohammed featured in the second series of BBC One's Reggie Perrin and was a co-presenter in BBC Three comedy series The King Is Dead alongside Simon Bird and Katy Wix.[12] He made guest appearances in Pete & Dud: The Lost Sketches, Miranda,[12] How Not to Live Your Life and Life's Too Short,[12] and appeared in Series 2 Episode 4 of the BBC Radio 4 musical comedy show Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section.[12]

Following his Radio 4 debut (Quarters), Mohammed had a second series Nick Mohammed in Bits.[13] He was a cast member of BAFTA-nominated CBBC sketch show Sorry, I've Got No Head, and supported Angelos Epithemiou (as one of his radio show characters, Mr Swallow) on his 2010 national tour.[12] He had a supporting role in all three series of the E4 comedy Drifters.[12]

Mohammed is known for his character Mr Swallow, a megalomaniac magician.[14] He created the character's voice and attitude after his English teacher in secondary school who spoke in the same high-pitched Northern voice Mr Swallow does, and the name coming from the fact she would swallow a lot in between sentences.[15][14][16] He first developed the character while in Cambridge Footlights.[2]

Mohammed developed The Mr Swallow Show for BBC Television and wrote and starred in an original comedy-drama Magic for Channel 4 as part of the Coming Up Scheme. He appeared in CBBC show Hank Zipzer as Mr. Love. He made a guest appearance in the final episode of series 1 and first episode of series 2 of Uncle.[12] In 2015, he joined the cast of ITV comedy The Job Lot. He wrote and starred in two series of 'Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed', a comedy set in a police station, for BBC Radio 4.[17]

In 2018, he voiced Piglet in the Disney film Christopher Robin. Also in 2018, it was announced that he would collaborate on a new comedy series titled Intelligence with David Schwimmer for Sky One.[18] In 2019, Mohammed appeared in the second series of Stath Lets Flats.[12] From 2020 to 2023, he played Nathan "Nate" Shelley in the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, which ran for three seasons on Apple TV+.[12] In 2023, Mohammed starred as a policeman in the film Maggie Moore(s), alongside Jon Hamm and Tina Fey.[19] He was a contestant on the 17th series of the Channel 4 show Taskmaster, which launched in March 2024.[20]

In 2025, he appeared in the fifth season of Apple TV+'s Slow Horses as Mayor Zafar Jaffrey. Also in 2025, he starred in the action comedy film Deep Cover alongside Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom.[21] In 2024, Mohammed opened A Christmas Carol (ish) at @sohoplace in London's West End for a Christmas run. The show was a re-telling of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol with Mr Swallow as the protagonist, also starring Martha Howe-Douglas, David Elms, and Kieran Hodgson. He originally developed the show at Soho Theatre in 2022.[22][23]

In 2025, he toured the UK as Mr Swallow in new live show, Show Pony with dates extended into 2026.[24] He also appeared as a contestant on The Celebrity Traitors, about which he said, "this is the first thing I've ever done as myself".[25] He made it to the final as faithful alongside David Olusoga, before losing out to traitor Alan Carr.[26]

Mohammed was in the 2025 Big Fat Quiz of the Year special, and was on the same team as Jonathan Ross; their team won.[27][28]

Mohammed learned the violin as a child and played in his university orchestra at St Aidan’s College at Durham University.[29] There he met his wife, Becca, whom he married in 2014.[30][31] They have three children.[32][33]

Mohammed moved to Richmond, London in 2014, and lived there for nearly a decade before moving on.[14][2] His eldest son, Finn, has an eidetic memory, which was showcased when they both appeared on an episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.[16][34]

Mohammed is allergic to fish and seafood.[35]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nick Mohammed.

• Nick Mohammed at IMDb
• Nick Mohammed on Spotlight