Bethany Antonia

Bethany Antonia is best known for playing "Lady Baela Targaryen" in HBO’s House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones. A dragon rider and the eldest daughter of Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon, Baela has become one of Bethany’s most recognisable roles, with the actress appearing in all three seasons of the hit fantasy drama.

Born in Birmingham, Bethany developed a love of performing from an early age, encouraged by her mum to take acting and dance classes. Coming from a working-class background, she didn’t follow the traditional drama-school route and instead gained experience through local workshops and performance groups, writing to hundreds of agents before eventually securing representation.

After making her television debut in BBC medical drama Doctors in 2016, Bethany beat around 500 other hopefuls to land the lead role in the independent film Pin Cushion, starring alongside Joanna Scanlan. Her breakthrough came in 2019 as Margot Rivers in teen mystery drama Get Even, before she appeared alongside Cush Jumbo and James Nesbitt in Netflix thriller Stay Close.

More recently, Bethany has worked with Russell T Davies, appearing alongside Helena Bonham Carter in Nolly and guest-starring in Doctor Who with former Strictly champion Rose Ayling-Ellis. She is currently taking centre stage as Eurydice in the West End production of Hadestown.

Away from acting, Bethany enjoys playing the piano and is a huge Strictly superfan. She and her best friend, who she met while filming Doctors, spent years watching the show together every Saturday night in their shared flat and entered the audience ticket ballot year after year. Now Bethany is finally stepping onto the Strictly dance floor herself - and she’s delighted that this time she can guarantee her best friend a ticket!