He is known for his roles as Vince Tyler in the Channel 4 television series Queer as Folk and as Luke Strong in Coronation Street.

[1] Kelly moved to London and attended the Drama Centre from 1989 to 1992,[2] where he studied the Stanislavski School of method acting alongside John Simm and Joe Duttine.

[3] Graduating in 1992, Kelly played a minor speaking role in Titanic as Assistant Wireless Operator, Harold Bride and also as Russell Muir in the film When Saturday Comes.

He later guest-starred in the third series of the BBC's Waking the Dead, in which he played a transgender woman who is released from prison on appeal after murdering her father.

In November 2008, Kelly landed the role of the new underworld factory boss, Luke Strong, in ITV's Coronation Street.

Kelly had a small role in the 1999 sci-fi film Wing Commander playing Falk, the ship's radar man.