Brittany Lynn Raymond (born February 24, 1995) is a Canadian actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as Riley in the Family Channel series '' The Next Step'' and Cori Ross in the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
From 2013 to 2017, she starred in the Family Channel series '' The Next Step'', portraying the role of Riley. As part of promotion for the series, she has performed in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. From 2015 to 2016, she portrayed Riley in the spinoff series, ''
Lost & Found Music Studios
''Lost & Found Music Studios'' is a Canadian musical-drama children's series created by Frank van Keeken and aired by Family Channel. The series is produced by Temple Street Productions and Beachwood Canyon Productions. It is a music-centered s ...
''. In 2019, she reprised her role of Riley for ''The Next Step Christmas Special'', airing on CBBC Gem, and began appearing in the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
series '' Dare Me'' as Cori Ross.
Aside from being a dancer, she also writes often and helped co-write the scripts for two web-series she was in: ''Australianaire$'' and ''Graped''. She starred in each of these alongside friend and business partner whom she started the production company "Knuckles on Four" with,
Brennan Clost
Brennan Clost (born October 20, 1994) is a Canadian actor and dancer, known for starring in the Family series '' The Next Step'', and the Netflix dance drama series ''Tiny Pretty Things''.
Early and personal life
Clost was born on October 20, 1 ...
. The two have produced a six-episode mini web-series, ''Australianaire$'' in 2020 as well as a short film, ''Almost Twenty'', in 2021.
In 2016, she started the
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel, "Jo and Britt" with high school friend Joelle Farrow, whom she met in Grade 12 Writer's Craft Class, bonding over Shaquan Lewis. The two did promotional events and had sponsorships with
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
through their Pixel Phone. They also went to the UK for meet and greets to interact more with fans. In the time that Jo and Britt was running, they created merch, (clothing, notebooks, and phone cases) on their Threadless website.
Personal life
Raymond was born on February 24, 1995, in
Brampton
Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...
, Ontario, to parents, Paula and John Raymond, alongside older sister Samantha. Her mother is of Portuguese descent. She danced at Joanne Chapman School of Dance, where she mastered her art. She moved to Georgetown, Ontario, when she booked ''The Next Step'' at age 17 after dancing competitively since the age of six.
At the end of 2016, she was diagnosed with
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...
, where she had to have a surgery to remove part of her intestine. Currently, she is in remission. During that time, she took up knitting and writing more. She has been dating Benjamin Dunlop, a photographer from
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, Australia since they met at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017, when she won the Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series award for her role as Riley in ''The Next Step''. The two live in an apartment overlooking
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...
with their cat Sauble.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
She is a two-time
Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...
nominee for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series, receiving nominations at the
Kelowna Daily Courier
The Daily Courier is a local newspaper in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
See also
*List of newspapers in Canada
This list of newspapers in Canada is a list of newspapers printed and distributed in Canada. Daily newspapers
Local weeklies
A ...
'', March 10, 2015. and at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017"Orphan Black, Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience up for Canadian Screen Awards"
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...
, January 17, 2017. for ''The Next Step''. She won the award in 2017.