Alicia Forde has built a career far beyond one television role. The British actor, writer, director and filmmaker became widely known as Kelly-Jo Rafferty in BBC drama Waterloo Road, then expanded into theatre, film and work behind the camera. Her path combines formal acting training, working-class roots, sport and an interest in overlooked lives.
Born in December 1997, Forde is 28 years old as of September 2026. She was born in Widnes, North-West England, and has spoken with pride about coming from Halton and growing up in a small working-class town. British by nationality, she has kept a strong connection to the region. Her exact day of birth has not been confirmed.
Alicia Forde Early Life and North-West Roots
Sport played a major role in her childhood before acting became a serious goal. She played football and rugby and has said she was the only girl on her football team until she was about 14. That gave her first-hand experience of competition and male-dominated sporting spaces.
Forde has said she first went to the theatre at about 15, when a school trip took her to the Liverpool Empire. The visit helped her see performance as something she could pursue seriously. Acting became a way to explore different lives and emotions beyond the expectations of her hometown.
Alicia Forde Family and Personal Background
Family matters deeply to Forde, though she keeps private details away from the spotlight. She has spoken warmly about her mother, father, sister and nieces, and has referred to her ancestors as a source of inspiration. The names of her close relatives have not been confirmed through strong professional sources. Her romantic life is also private, with no confirmed spouse, partner or children.
Her verified Instagram bio includes the Barbados flag, showing a connection to Barbados that she chooses to make visible. She has not publicly explained whether that link concerns ancestry, parentage, citizenship or another family connection. Her heritage should therefore not be defined more narrowly without her own clear statement.
Alicia Forde Education and Acting Training
Forde trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, studying BA Performance (Acting) from 2017 to 2020 and completing the course with a 2:1. During her training, she gained a Laurence Olivier Bursary, a Dance and Drama Award and the Jeanie Harris Memorial Award. Her student theatre work included Rosalind in As You Like It, Minnie in The Daughter-in-Law, Gloria in Gloria and Emilia 2 in Emilia.
In 2026, she undertook the Create x Connect programme at the National Film and Television School, supported by the BBC and YouTube. The course covered digital content, audience growth, strategy and the changing media landscape. It fitted naturally with her move into writing and directing.
Alicia Forde and ADHD
Forde has spoken openly about being told at university that she had ADHD and dyslexia. That experience became meaningful when she later played Kelly-Jo Rafferty, whose story includes concentration difficulties, behaviour problems and an ADHD diagnosis. She has made clear that her own experience is not identical to Kelly-Jo’s.
She has challenged the idea that a struggling pupil should simply be dismissed as badly behaved. Instead, she has spoken about understanding how different minds work and how school environments can affect confidence. That insight gave Kelly-Jo’s story added emotional honesty.
Alicia Forde in Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road became the breakthrough that changed Forde’s screen career. She joined the revived BBC series in 2023 as Kelly-Jo Rafferty, an energetic and sometimes confrontational pupil whose behaviour hides deeper struggles. The role was special because Forde had watched the programme while growing up.
Her route into the drama began through theatre. Casting director Michelle Smith saw her perform in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and encouraged her to audition. Forde had stage experience but little screen experience. She went on to play Kelly-Jo across multiple series and became one of the memorable pupils of the BBC revival.
Kelly-Jo Rafferty and Career Recognition
Her performance earned an RTS North West nomination for Best Breakthrough Talent in 2023 and another nomination for Best Performance in a Continuing Drama in 2024. She was also nominated for Best Drama Star at the 2024 Inside Soap Awards. These honours strengthened her standing. Kelly-Jo also gave her space to handle stories about ADHD, identity, friendship and growing up.
Forde then played Sarah Duddy in the second series of Jimmy McGovern’s Time, joining Jodie Whittaker, Tamara Lawrance, Bella Ramsey and Siobhan Finneran. The move from school drama to prison drama showed her wider range.
Alicia Forde Movies, Television and Theatre Career
Her screen credits include Holly in the Sky Christmas comedy Bad Tidings, Chloe in Bariau, Jan in Special Measures and Lindsay in the short film Ryan Can’t Read. She also worked on I Know A Place and appeared as a spoken-word artist in The Painter & The Poet. Bariau also added Welsh-language television work to her CV.
Theatre has remained important. She played Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and took on Juliet in Romeo & Juliet at Liverpool Everyman in 2025. She has also worked in BBC Radio 4 productions and commercial campaigns for Asda and Suzuki.
Alicia Forde as Writer, Director and Founder of TOWNKID
Forde has also moved behind the camera. She founded TOWNKID and developed herself as a writer, director and producer as well as an actor. Her short film Squeaky Bum grew from memories of football culture and the tension between joy, loyalty, masculinity and aggression. The story follows a teenage boy facing grief, trauma and his father’s influence before a major football match.
Forde wrote and directed the film to examine football-related domestic abuse and pressure on boys to fit narrow ideas of masculinity. The work drew on her North-West football background. She explored how community pride and harmful behaviour can exist in the same space.
Squeaky Bum and Manchester Film Festival Success
Squeaky Bum won Best North West Short at Manchester Film Festival in 2026. The film starred Noah Valentine, Ciara Ford, Faye McKeever and Shaun Fagan, supported by a team of emerging creatives. Her newer directing work also includes Gorgon, showing that filmmaking is becoming a continuing part of her career.
Alicia Forde was also connected with BUSSA FILMS LTD, a motion-picture production company formed in May 2024, where she served as director. The company was dissolved in July 2026. Her work now combines performance, writing, directing and production.
Alicia Forde Awards, Representation and Online Presence
Alicia Forde is represented by Curtis Brown Talent and uses a verified Instagram account under her own name. Her social bio describes her as an actor and writer, while her wider work also supports the titles of director, filmmaker and producer. She has taken part in a writers’ workshop linked with Reporters Studio.
There is no credible basis for a fixed net-worth figure, and her exact height, full birth date and relationship status remain private or unconfirmed. She has moved from drama-school graduate to television breakout and award-winning filmmaker. Her work repeatedly explores identity, class, neurodiversity and community.
Alicia Forde’s Creative Outlook
Alicia Forde has spoken about writing as an important part of her future and has continued to turn that interest into finished work. Her creative choices often return to class, family, identity, sport and the pressures young people face. She also values happiness, close relationships and experiences outside work, which helps explain the human focus in her projects.
Rather than separating acting from filmmaking, she is building a career in which performance, writing and directing support one another. Her current direction combines established acting craft with a growing desire to shape stories from the first idea to the finished screen.
Why Alicia Forde Is Building a Career With Lasting Range
Alicia Forde began as a sporty girl from Widnes, discovered theatre in her teens, trained professionally, broke through on BBC television and then used that momentum to create work of her own. Acting remains central, while writing and directing are now equally important.
Ambition and social purpose sit side by side in her work. She has used personal experience of neurodivergence, working-class life and football culture to shape roles and projects with emotional weight. From Kelly-Jo Rafferty to Squeaky Bum, her work has become more varied, personal and ambitious. At 28, she already has the foundation for a career across television, theatre, film and original storytelling.
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