Luke Jerdy\'s real name is Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy.
The \'Hollyoaks\' actor - who plays Jesse Donovan in the Channel 4 soap - has revealed he changed his first name to Luke, and took part of his second name to create a completely new moniker after hearing some advice that keeping his real name may "confuse casting directors".
He said: "My real name is Majid and I\'m half-Iranian. I decided to change my name at drama school after hearing some advice that it might end up confusing casting directors.
"My middle name is Luke and my surname is Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy - I took Luke and Jerdy so that it\'s still like me."
The 28-year-old actor is dating his \'Hollyoaks\' co-star Daisy Wood-Davis (Kim Butterfield) away from the Chester village, and he was recently left "jealous" after she shot scenes with singing legend Rick Astley, who is to make a cameo in the soap.
He added to Inside Soap magazine: "I was jealous, and they didn\'t even invite me. It was a stroke of genius to finally have him in the show, after all those months of Kim staring at a poster of him.
"To actually get the man himself to take part in \'Hollyoaks\' - it was just really brilliant."
Rick was approached to appear in the programme after Daisy\'s alter-ego Kim spent months kidnapped in the school with only a poster of Rick to speak to for comfort.
The actress recently admitted she and the \'Never Gonna Give You Up\' hitmaker have become best pals following the storyline.
She said: "We\'re just hanging out. We\'re bessies now. I\'ve had the best night ever."
Rick, 52, added: "I haven\'t given her up and I haven\'t let her down."
