Wishaw. Ask most folk about the town and you’ll be met with either a grimace or a puzzled look. We don’t like to big ourselves up to much - but rest assured there are some truly astounding famous faces that have emerged from the unassuming North Lanarkshire conurbation.
I grew up in Wishaw, so I know fine well that we’ve produced some of the biggest Scottish football greats in the last few generations, alongside major players who’ve contributed massively to our countries arts and culture.
Despite all the difficulties we’ve faced as a post-industrial town, so many brilliant people have came out of the shadow cast over Wishaw since the demolition of the Ravenscraig back in the 90s. If that doesn’t show you that strength is built from adversity - I don’t know what will.
If you want to read more about Wishaw, check out our article: A local’s guide to Wishaw: 10 things to do in the heart of North Lanarkshire
From footballers to academics to musicians - these are the 12 biggest and best celebrities from the town of Wishaw.
5. Paul Higgins
This one surprised even me, Paul Higgins, starring in shows like Utopia, Taggart, The Thick of It, Line of Duty (pictured), and many more - you can usually find him playing a police officer on the big and small screen, far from his days training to be a Roman Catholic priest in Wishaw. | Contributed
6. The Jolt
The Jolt were a Scottish Punk Band, precursors to the UK Mod Revival, they were always supporting bands like The Jam, The Saints, Generation X , and The Motors throughout the 70s. Paul Weller was a massive fan of the band, Weller even wrote one of their hit singles 'See Saw' - right before the band split up. | Contributed
7. Sir Samuel Curran
The only academic on this list, Samuel Curran did his town proud that's to be sure. One of the founders of the University of Strathclyde and the first Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the uni too. To add to that CV he was also the inventor of the scintillation counter, the proportional counter, and the proximity fuze during his time as a physicist. He also set up Scottish Society for the Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children, now known as Enable Scotland. Not bad at all for a Wishy boy. | Contributed
8. SAINT PHNX
SAINT PHNX are a pair of Wishaw brothers specialising in anthemic pop-rock - they've toured with the likes of Imagine Dragons, Yungblud, Arizona, and Lewis Capaldi. Life-long Rangers fans, one of their latest releases was "Make Us Dream", a song centred around their team's face-off against German football club Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 UEFA Europa League Final. | Contributed Photo: Rick Kern